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Oil
prices fell after U.S. crude inventories rose for a seventh
week, showing the market is still struggling to ease oversupply.
[O/R]
Gain in crude prices helped U.S. stocks edge higher on Thursday
as did a renewed pledge by Trump to bring back jobs to the
United States.
Trump's promises of tax reforms, a reduction in regulation and
increased infrastructure spending, has helped spur equities to
record highs. The S&P 500 is up more than 10 percent since the
election. The Dow notched a record high for a tenth straight
session on Thursday, its longest such streak since 1987.
But, with little clarity on Trump's proposals, those gains have
come with the markets trading in a tight range. The benchmark
S&P 500 index has not register a move of at least one percent in
either direction since Dec. 7.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also tempered investor
enthusiasm on Thursday when he said any policy steps would
probably have only a limited impact this year.
Investor will likely get more clarity on Trump's plan on
Tuesday, when he addresses a joint session of Congress.
Data due on Friday includes a report from the U.S. Commerce
Department that is likely to show new single-family home sales
rebounded in January.
Separately, a report from the University of Michigan is seen
showing that the final consumer sentiment index held at 96.0 in
February, compared with a preliminary reading of 95.7. Both
reports are expected at 10 a.m. ET (1500 GMT).
Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise <HPE.N> fell 6.73 percent
to $23 in premarket trading after the company cut its full-year
profit forecast.
J.C. Penney rose 1.9 percent to $6.99 after the department store
operator said it would close about 130-140 stores over the next
few months.
Baidu <BIDU.O> was down about 1.75 percent at $181.40 as the
internet search giant's revenue fell for a second straight
quarter.
Futures snapshot at 7:10 a.m. EDT:
Dow e-minis were down 77 points, or 0.37 percent, with
22,163 contracts changing hands.
S&P 500 e-minis were down 9.75 points, or 0.41 percent, with
124,774 contracts traded.
Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 27.25 points, or 0.51 percent, on
volume of 24,413 contracts.
(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal; Editing by Savio D'Souza)
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