Money Map Press Chief Investment Strategist Shah Gilani discusses his outlook for the markets.
U.S. equity futures are trading lower ahead of the Thursday session on Wall Street.
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The major futures indexes are suggesting a decline of 0.6 percent.
A handful of data points could influence the market day.
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The Labor Department is expected to say the number of claims for unemployment benefits fell for the 15th week in a row to 1.25 million, down from 1.314 million the prior week and well below the peak of 6.9 million at the end of March. Since the coronavirus lockdowns began back in mid-March 49.98 million people have filed jobless claims. An additional 1.25 million would bring that total to 51.23 million, or 32 percent of the U.S. workforce.
Retail sales are expected to jump 5 percent in June and the Philly Fed is out with its July index of manufacturing activity for eastern Pennsylvania, south Jersey and Delaware. It’s expected to fall to 20 from 27.5 in June. A reading above zero signals expansion.
US FIRMS SAW UPTICK IN ACTIVITY BUT OUTLOOK WEIGHS, FED SURVEY SHOWS
It will also be a busy day for earnings as Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Charles Schwab, Johnson & Johnson and Netflix are scheduled to report.
China’s economy grew 3.2 percent in annual terms in April-June, after a 6.8 percent contraction in the previous quarter.
However, that data failed to excite investors.
CHINA’S ECONOMY GROWS 3.2%, FIRST ECONOMY TO RISE SINCE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
China’s Shanghai Composite led Thursday’s declines, dropping 4.5 percent, Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 0.8 percent and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 1.6 percent.
In Europe, London’s FTSE slipped 0.4 percent, Germany’s DAX declines 0.5 percent and France’s CAC fell 0.6 percent.
Shares advanced worldwide on Wednesday after researchers announced that a vaccine developed by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna had revved up people’s immune systems in early testing, as hoped.
The S&P 500 rose 0.9 percent, pulling to within 4.7 percent of its all-time high set in February. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also climbed 0.9 percent and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.6 percent.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 26870.1 | +227.51 | +0.85% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 3226.56 | +29.04 | +0.91% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 10550.492362 | +61.91 | +0.59% |
Rising numbers of infections and deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic remain a constant source of uncertainty.
A raft of troubling news, from the more than 13.5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 to escalating friction between Washington and Beijing, hangs over the markets but has been countered by the massive amounts of stimulus poured into financial systems by central banks to counter the pandemic downturn.
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In other trading, benchmark U.S. crude oil shed 35 cents to $40.86 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It rose 91 cents to settle at $41.20 per barrel on Wednesday.
Brent oil, the international standard, gave up 23 cents to $43.56 per barrel. It picked up 89 cents to settle at $43.79 per barrel overnight.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
