Futures retreat ahead of jobless claims, business
activity data
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[April 23, 2020] By
Shreyashi Sanyal and C Nivedita
(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures headed
lower on Thursday as investors braced for another staggering jobless
claims report and a plunge in business activity data as state-wide
lockdown measures hammer economic growth.
Wall Street jumped on Wednesday on a recovery in oil prices and signs
Congress was preparing nearly $500 billion more in relief for small
businesses and hospitals. The bill is expected to clear the House of
Representatives later in the day.
Still, the benchmark S&P 500 index <.SPX> is 17% below its February
record high as shutdowns sparked layoffs and crushed consumer spending.
Surveys on U.S. manufacturing and services firms are likely to mirror
dismal readings from Asia and Europe issued earlier on Thursday.
Data is also likely to show a record 26 million Americans sought
unemployment benefits over the last five weeks, confirming that jobs
created during the longest employment boom in U.S. history were wiped
out in about a month.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2020/Apr/23/images/ads/current/maskeauction_sda_022614.png)
"(Markets) are learning that it is more efficient to react to data
rather than trying to predict it," said Chris Bailey, strategist at
Raymond James in London.
"A lot of people are understanding that many of the jobless numbers may
be temporary and when conditions go back to more normal ones, many
people will return to previous jobs."
At 7:57 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis <1YMcv1> were down 52 points, or 0.22%. S&P
500 e-minis <EScv1> were down 0.25 points, or 0.01% and Nasdaq 100
e-minis <NQcv1> were up 1.75 points, or 0.02%.
The CBOE volatility index has retreated from 12-year peaks hit last
month, but remains well above levels seen in the past two years.
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![](../images/042320pics/busine19.jpg)
A woman walks in the
rain outside the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in the financial
district of lower Manhattan during the outbreak of the coronavirus
disease (COVID-19) in New York City, New York, U.S., April 13, 2020.
REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2020/Apr/23/images/ads/current/debbiesfloral_lda_MOTHERSDAY_2020.png)
Analysts have sharply cut their S&P 500 profit expectations for the first and
second quarters, while companies launched dramatic cost-cutting measures to ride
out the economic slump.
"Given that the global economy is breathing on life support, no one can be sure
with a high level of certainty how equities and other asset classes will perform
in the coming months," said Hussein Sayed, chief market strategist at FXTM.
"What we know is volatility will stay with us for a while and that is the kind
of 'new normal' we need to deal with over the forthcoming weeks and possibly
months."
Retailer Target Corp <TGT.N> reported a surge in digital sales in March and
April, which offset a slump in-store sales. But its shares fell 5% in premarket
trading as margins continued to be hit by higher costs.
Bigger rival Walmart Inc <WMT.N> also fell 1.2% and was the biggest decliner
among Dow <.DJI> components before the bell.
Eli Lilly and Co <LLY.N> gained 1% as it raised its 2020 profit forecast,
benefiting from customers stockpiling its medicines such as diabetes drug
Trulicity during the pandemic.
(Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal and C Nivedita in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb
Chakrabarty, Sagarika Jaisinghani and Arun Koyyur)
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