Attention is now on weekly U.S. jobless claims data, due at 8:30
ET (1230 GMT), which is expected to show the number of Americans
filing for state unemployment benefits dipped slightly from the
prior week, although the labor market continues to struggle due
to the pandemic.
Last week, the government's July jobs report showed the economy
has regained only 9.3 million of the 22 million jobs lost
between February and April.
Wall Street indexes had rallied on Wednesday with gains across
most sectors, bringing the S&P 500 <.SPX> about 0.4% below its
intraday record high hit on Feb. 19.
While Wall Street has recovered most of the trillions lost
during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, thanks to
unprecedented stimulus and a better-than-feared earnings season,
the economy has a long road to its pre-pandemic size.
Markets continued to hold on to hopes the Democrats and the
White House would reach an agreement to pump more money into the
economy, with unemployment benefits being a sticking point.
At 6:10 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis <1YMcv1> were down 23 points, or
0.08%. S&P 500 e-minis <EScv1> were down 3.75 points, or 0.11%
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis <NQcv1> were down 13.5 points, or 0.12%.
Among individual movers, Cisco Systems Inc <CSCO.O> dropped 5.8%
premarket after forecasting first-quarter revenue and profit
below Wall Street estimates and laying out a restructuring plan.
Southwest Airlines Co <LUV.N> slipped 3.5% in slim trade after
Chief Executive Gary Kelly said he did not expect the airline
will be profitable in 2020, snapping a 47-year streak of posting
consecutive full-year profits.
The U.S. Presidential election is also expected to add another
layer of uncertainty into markets, with roughly 12 weeks
remaining until the election day.
(Reporting by Ambar Warrick and Medha Singh in Bengaluru;
Editing by Arun Koyyur)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|