Stock futures lower as December rate hike back on the table

[October 29, 2015]  By Abhiram Nandakumar

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were lower on Thursday, a day after the Federal Reserve revived expectations of an increase in interest rates in December.

* The Fed, which kept rates unchanged at its policy meeting, downplayed concerns about the global economy and indicated confidence in the U.S. job market's recovery and the economy's capacity to absorb a rate hike.

* The Fed's hawkish tone came as a surprise, prompting an increase in the odds of a December hike to 43 percent from the 38 percent minutes before the release of the statement, according to the CME Group's FedWatch program.

* Wall Street closed sharply higher on Wednesday, led by the financial sector, which benefits from higher borrowing rates.

* European shares reversed course after rising earlier on Thursday, pulled down by disappointing quarterly results, while Asian shares held on to meager gains.
 

* U.S. economic data due on Thursday includes a survey on U.S. gross domestic product. Growth is forecast to slow to an annual rate of 1.6 percent in the third quarter, from 3.9 percent in the second quarter. The data is due at 8:30 a.m. ET (1230 GMT)

* Also due at the same time is data on jobless claims, which is estimated to have increased by 4,000 to 263,000 last week.

* Allergan's shares <AGN.N> shot up 12.3 percent to $322.50 premarket after the Wall Street Journal reported that Pfizer <PFE.N> was in talks to buy the Botox maker. Pfizer was up 2.8 percent at $36.45.

* GoPro slumped 16.4 percent to $25.25 after the action camera maker posted disappointing results.

* Deutsche Bank's U.S.-listed shares were down 5.3 percent after the German bank announced a massive overhaul of its operations that includes 35,000 job cuts.

* Teva Pharmaceuticals was up 1.5 percent after results. Mastercard is due to report before the bell.

* Starbucks, Western Union,  LinkedIn and Electronic Arts report after the close.

* Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart is scheduled to speak later in the day.

Futures snapshot at 6:55 a.m. ET:

* S&P 500 e-minis were down 8 points, or 0.38 percent, with 113,100 contracts traded.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 24.25 points, or 0.52 percent, on volume of 18,833 contracts.

* Dow e-minis were down 70 points, or 0.4 percent, with 12,641 contracts changing hands.

(Reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
 

[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.