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Also
on investors' minds is a policy announcement from the European
Central Bank on Thursday. The bank is expected to back its loose
monetary policy, ahead of high-risk elections in France and the
Netherlands.
Worries over Wall Street valuations and a Federal Reserve keen
on raising rates next week have put the brakes on a
post-election rally in recent days.
The S&P 500 <.SPX> has closed lower for the past three days,
setting up the benchmark for its first weekly decline in seven
weeks.
U.S. crude prices, the main drivers behind Wednesday's drop, hit
$48.79 on Thursday, their lowest since November following a
record rise in inventories. Shares of Exxon Mobil <XOM.N> and
Chevron <CVX.N> were off about half a percent in premarket
trading. [O/R]
The next big theme for investors is Friday's monthly nonfarm
payrolls report, which is expected to feed into Fed's decision
on an interest rate hike at its meeting on March 14-15.
Meanwhile, a report is expected to show 235,000 Americans
applied for unemployment benefits last week, marking the 105th
week of claims below 300,000, a threshold associated with a
healthy labor market. The data is due at 8:30 a.m. ET (1330
GMT).
Shares of e.l.f Beauty <ELF.N> jumped nearly 15 percent to
$29.06 premarket after the cosmetics maker reported quarterly
revenue that beat analysts' average estimate.
Tailored Brands <TLRD.N> tumbled 31 percent to $16.20 after the
Jos. A. Bank brand's owner reported a wider-than-expected loss
in the fourth quarter.
Futures snapshot at 6:53 a.m. ET:
Dow e-minis <1YMc1> were down 25 points, or 0.12 percent, with
19,654 contracts changing hands.
S&P 500 e-minis <ESc1> were down 2 points, or 0.08 percent, with
113,095 contracts traded.
Nasdaq 100 e-minis <NQc1> were down 3.75 points, or 0.07
percent, on volume of 19,815 contracts.
(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru)
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