Wall Street set to open flat after record day

[December 08, 2016]  By Yashaswini Swamynathan

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks looked set to open little changed on Thursday as investors paused, a day after major Wall Street indexes hit record levels, extending a post-election rally.

The European Central Bank unexpectedly reduced its asset purchase plans to 60 billion euros ($64 billion) from the current 80 billion euros, but reserved the right to increase buying once again.

Donald Trump's election as U.S. president last month sparked euphoria on Wall Street, with investors chasing stocks that are likely to gain from his proposals to spend more on infrastructure and simplify industry regulation.

The Dow industrials <.DJI>, the Dow Transport <.DJT>, the S&P 500 <.SPX> and the Russell 2000 <.RUT> indexes closed at record levels on Wednesday.

"Investors are getting excited over the prospects of a new administration, a fresh mindset and a man who knows how to do business," said Andre Bakhos, managing director at Janlyn Capital in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

"While there was also a technical aspect to the move yesterday ... the mindset right now is that any pullback is seen as bullish. It's an opportunity to buy into the market, not sell."

Adding to the bullish tone was a report that showed the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell from a five-month high last week, pointing to a robust labor market and building on a recent spate of strong economic data.

Investors are now turning their attention to the Federal Reserve's meeting next week, where traders see a more than 90 chance of an interest rate hike.

Dow e-minis were up 23 points, or 0.12 percent at 8:31 a.m. ET, with 38,325 contracts changing hands.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

S&P 500 e-minis  were up 1.5 points, or 0.07 percent, with 243,838 contracts traded.

Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 4 points, or 0.08 percent, on volume of 24,137 contracts.

Lululemon soared 15.2 percent to $68.96 premarket, after the yoga and leisure apparel retailer reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit.

Costco  rose 1.67 percent to $156.42 in thin trading after the warehouse club retailer reported a quarterly profit that beat analysts' expectations.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)

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