| | The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a modestly lower opening on Thursday, with stocks likely to give back ground following the rally seen in the previous session.
Traders may look to cash in on yesterday?s substantial gains, which came on the heels of ?dovish? comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
Lingering uncertainty about trade between the U.S. and China may weigh on the markets ahead of this weekend?s meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Trump and Xi are due to hold a dinner meeting on Saturday on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, although a substantive breakthrough is seen as unlikely.
After moving moderately higher early in the session, stocks saw further upside over the course of the trading day on Wednesday. The major averages climbed firmly into positive territory, further offsetting the weakness seen last week.
The major averages ended the session at their best levels of the day. The Dow surged up 617.70 points or 2.5 percent to 25,366.43, the Nasdaq spiked 208.89 points or 3 percent to 7,291.59 and the S&P 500 soared 61.61 points or 2.3 percent to 2,743.78.
The rally on Wall Street came on the heels of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's remarks in a speech to the Economic Club of New York that were interpreted as dovish for interest rates.
Powell noted interest rates are still low by historical standards and said rates are currently "just below the broad range of estimates of the level that would be neutral for the economy."
The latest remarks seem to conflict with comments Powell made early last month, when he described rates as a "long way from neutral."
Powell also said the economy is close to achieving both of the Fed's objectives of promoting maximum employment and price stability.
The Fed Chief stressed rates are not on a "preset" path and said the central bank will pay very close attention to incoming data.
"As always, our decisions on monetary policy will be designed to keep the economy on track in light of the changing outlook for jobs and inflation," Powell said.
Ahead of Powell's remarks, Trump attacked the Fed Chairman in an interview with the Washington Post published late Tuesday.
Trump told the Washington Post he is "not even a little bit happy" with Powell, blaming the Fed for recent stock market weakness and General Motors' (GM) announcement of plant closures and layoffs.
"I'm doing deals, and I'm not being accommodated by the Fed," Trump said. "They're making a mistake because I have a gut, and my gut tells me more sometimes than anybody else's brain can ever tell me."
"So far, I'm not even a little bit happy with my selection of Jay. Not even a little bit," he added. "I think that the Fed is way off-base with what they're doing."
CME Group's FedWatch tool currently indicates an 82.7 percent chance the Fed will raise rates by another quarter point to a range of 2.25 to 2.50 percent at its monetary policy meeting next month.
Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off a report from the Commerce Department showing a substantial decrease in new home sales in the month of November.
The Commerce Department said new home sales plummeted by 8.9 percent to an annual rate of 533,000 in October from an upwardly revised rate of 597,000 in September.
Economists had expected new home sales to rise to a rate of 575,000 from the 553,000 originally reported for the previous month.
With the steep drop, new home sales tumbled to their lowest level since hitting an annual rate of 538,000 in March of 2016.
Software stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the session, driving the Dow Jones Software Index up by 4.3 percent. The index continued to recover after hitting its lowest closing level in nearly five months last Tuesday.
Within the software sector, salesforce.com (CRM) posted a standout gain after the customer-management software developer reported better than expected fiscal third quarter results and raised its full-year revenue guidance.
Substantial strength also emerged among retail stocks, which have recently benefited from reports of strong Black Friday sales. Reflecting the strength in the retail sector, the Dow Jones Retail Index soared by 3.8 percent.
Gold stocks also turned in a particularly strong performance, resulting in a 2.9 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The strength among gold stocks came amid a notable increase by the price of the precious metal.
Biotechnology, steel, computer hardware, and transportation stocks also moved notably higher on the day amid broad based buying interest on Wall Street.
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After reporting an unexpected uptick in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the previous week, the Labor Department released a report showing another unexpected increase in initial jobless claims in the week ended November 24th.
The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 234,000, an increase of 10,000 from the previous week?s unrevised level of 224,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 220,000.
Meanwhile, a separate report from the Commerce Department showed personal income and spending both increased by more than anticipated in the month of October.
The Commerce Department said personal income climbed by 0.5 percent in October after edging up by 0.2 percent in September. Economists had expected income to rise by 0.4 percent.
Additionally, the report said personal spending advanced by 0.6 percent in October after rising by 0.2 percent in the previous month. Spending had also been expected to increase by 0.4 percent.
At 10 am ET, the National Association of Realtors is scheduled to release its report on pending home sales in the month of October. Pending home sales are expected to climb by 0.5 percent in October, matching the increase seen in September.
A pending home sale is one in which a contract was signed but not yet closed. Normally, it takes four to six weeks to close a contracted sale.
A 2 pm ET, the Federal Reserve is due to release the minutes of its monetary policy meeting held earlier this month. The Fed decided to leave interest rates unchanged at the meeting.
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Shares of Dollar Tree (DLTR) are seeing significant pre-market weakness after the discount retailer reported weaker than expected fiscal third quarter revenues and lowered its guidance for the current quarter.
Lab testing services provided Quest Diagnostics (DGX) may also come under pressure after lowering its full-year earnings and revenue forecast.
Shares of Guess (GES) are also likely to move to the downside after the apparel retailer reported fiscal third quarter earnings that missed estimates and provided disappointing current quarter guidance.
On the other hand, shares of Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) may see initial strength after the apparel retailer reported fiscal third quarter results that exceeded expectations on both the top and bottom lines.
Cloud storage company Box (BOX) is also likely to move to the upside after reporting a narrower than expected fiscal third quarter loss and providing upbeat full-year guidance.
Shares of McDonald?s (MCD) may also open higher after Morgan Stanley upgraded its rating on the fast food giant to Overweight from Equalweight. | | | | | Become a Shareholder in High Times The Original Voice of Cannabis. Join our investor community and help shape the emerging cannabis industry.
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European stocks have followed their U.S. peers higher on Thursday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said U.S. interest rates are just below neutral, implying that the Fed's three-year tightening cycle is drawing to a close.
Investors also remained hopeful for a de-escalation in trade tensions between the U.S. and China at the G20 summit, though a substantive breakthrough is unlikely.
While the German DAX Index has inched up by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.4 percent and the U.K.?s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.6 percent.
Higher iron ore and copper prices have helped lift miners, with Anglo American, Antofagasta, Rio Tinto and Glencore all rising.
Ericsson has advanced after being selected by Volvo Car Group to provide the CVC platform to further enable its digital vehicle services in more than 120 markets worldwide for the next five years.
Automakers Daimler, Volkswagen, Renault and Peugeot have also moved to the upside despite President Donald Trump renewing threats to impose tariffs on imported cars.
Meanwhile, British media company Daily Mail & General has slumped after it warned of volatile advertising market conditions.
Intu properties has also fallen sharply in London after a consortium consisting of the Peel Group, the Olayan Group and Brookfield Property Group announced its withdrawal from a possible offer for the company.
Banks are subdued after the EU Commission said a reduction in Italy's planned public deficit is not sufficient for the country to escape EU sanctions.
In economic news, data from the Federal Statistical Office showed Germany's employment level in October hit a record high since reunification, while the ILO jobless rate eased from the previous month.
Employment grew by 1.2 percent or 556,000 persons year-on-year to over 45.1 million. The adjusted ILO jobless rate eased to 3.3 percent from 3.4 percent.
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Asian stocks rose broadly on Thursday, though markets in China and Hong Kong ended in the red amid anxiety ahead of crucial meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit later this week.
While a substantive breakthrough is unlikely, the two sides may agree on a communiqué for a de-escalation of trade tensions.
Underlying sentiment remained supported across the region after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said current interest rates are ?just below? neutral.
Chinese stocks fluctuated before closing sharply lower ahead of the much-anticipated meeting between the U.S. and Chinese presidents this weekend.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index tumbled 34.29 points or 1.3 percent to 2,567.44, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 231.53 points or 0.9 percent to 26,451.03.
Japanese shares advanced despite the dollar weakening against the yen on expectations of a slowdown in the pace of rate hikes by the Fed. The Nikkei 225 Index rose 85.58 points or 0.4 percent to 22,262.60, while the broader Topix Index closed 0.4 percent higher at 1,659.47.
Consumer electronics and video game company Nintendo soared 4.1 percent after its Switch console set two new records from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday. Nissan Motor rose 1.4 percent to snap a two-day losing streak.
In economic news, retail sales in Japan surged up a seasonally adjusted 1.2 percent in October, a government report showed. That exceeded expectations for an increase of 0.4 percent following the 0.2 percent decline in September.
Australian markets pared some gains after hitting a more than two-week high earlier in the day. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index still closed up 33.30 points or 0.6 percent at 5,758.40 amid broad-based buying. The broader All Ordinaries Index climbed 35.60 points or 0.6 percent to 5,835.70.
Higher iron ore and copper prices helped lift miners. BHP Billiton gained 1.2 percent as its Spence copper mine resumed operations after a union strike. Rio Tinto advanced 1.7 percent after approving a $2.6 billion investment in its Koodaideri iron ore mine in Western Australia.
Financials followed their U.S. peers higher, with banks ANZ, Commonwealth and Westpac rising between half a percent and 0.7 percent.
On the other hand, waste management company Bingo Industries slumped 5.3 percent after the competition regulator criticized its proposed merger with rival Dial A Dump.
Energy stocks ended mixed despite oil prices falling more than 2 percent overnight. Poker machine maker Aristocrat Leisure declined 2.6 percent after reporting its full-year results.
In economic news, total new capital spending in Australia fell a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent sequentially in the third quarter of 2018, official data showed, missing forecasts for an increase of 1.0 percent.
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Crude oil futures are jumping $1.01 to $51.30 a barrel after tumbling $1.27 to $50.29 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, an ounce of gold is trading at $1,226, up $2.40 compared to the previous session?s close of $1,223.60. On Wednesday, gold jumped $10.20.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 113.30 yen compared to the 113.68 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1382 compared to yesterday?s $1.1366.
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