U.S. stock index futures were under slight pressure ahead of Thursday’s open, as investors turn their attention to the latest corporate news, while trying to shake off the volatile trading seen in markets worldwide.
Around 5:30 a.m. ET, Dow futures pointed to a nearly 100-point drop at the open. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 futures also indicated a weak start to trading.
The movements seen in U.S. futures come on the back of a slightly negative close on Wednesday. In the previous session, U.S. stocks finished in the red as interest rates climbed back toward multi-year highs.
Major U.S. indexes started to come under pressure on the back of a rise in the 10-year Treasury yield, sparking renewed concerns which triggered the sell-off that started last Friday. As investors remain on edge over the volatile trading, earnings are set to stir up sentiment during Thursday’s session.
Ahead of the opening bell, CVS Health, Philip Morris, T-Mobile U.S., Kellogg, Nielsen, Twitter, Viacom, Yum! Brands, Manchester United and NY Times are set to publish fresh earnings reports.
Meantime, after the bell, AIG, Nvidia, Activision Blizzard, Expedia, News Corp., FireEye, Lions Gate and Skechers are scheduled to report.
Aside from earnings, data, politics, and central banking news are set to be on investors’ minds. On Wednesday, U.S. congressional leaders arrived at a two-year budget deal, in order to raise spending on military and domestic areas by close to $300 billion.
President Donald Trump showed approval of the deal, tweeting that the agreement was “so important for our great military,” adding that both major political parties “must support” the troops and therefore the bill.
Meantime, investors will be keeping an ear out for any news out of the speeches made by members of the U.S. Federal Reserve.
On Thursday, Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, Kansas City Fed President Esther George and Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan are all set to deliver remarks at their own individual speaking events.
Looking to data, jobless claims are due to be released at 8:30 a.m. ET.
