The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a modestly lower open on Thursday, with stocks poised to extend the pullback seen over the course of the previous session.
Lingering uncertainty about a new fiscal stimulus bill may weigh on Wall Street as traders keep an eye on the latest developments in Washington.
The House has passed a one-week funding bill to avoid a government shutdown, although lawmakers remain at a stalemate over a coronavirus relief bill.
The impasse partly reflects a dispute between Republicans and Democrats over including aid for state and local governments.
Negative sentiment may also be generated in reaction to a Labor Department showing a significant increase in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended December 5th.
The major U.S. stock averages retreated after setting new record intraday highs on Wednesday and ended the session notably lower due to a sell-off in technology shares.
Investors were tracking the developments on the fiscal stimulus front, and the updates on the coronavirus vaccine front. Profit taking after recent gains also contributed to the market's fall.
The Dow ended with a loss of 105.07 points or 0.4 percent at 30,068.81, after hitting a high of 30,319.70.
The S&P 500, which spurted to 3,712.39, ended the day at 3,672.82, losing 29.43 points or 0.8 percent, while the Nasdaq slumped 243.82 points or 1.9 percent to settle at 12,338.95, way off a record high of 12,607.14 touched in early trading.
Salesforce.Com, Boeing, Apple, American Express, Microsoft, Visa, Facebook, Chevron and Intel lost 1 to 3 percent. JP Morgan Chase and Procter & Gamble also ended weak.
Travelers Companies shares rose sharply, rebounding from losses in the previous session. General Electric, 3M, DuPont, Goldman Sachs, Johnson & Johnson, Amgen and Home Depot also ended higher.
The FDA said the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer/BioNTech "met the prescribed success criteria" and cleared it for emergency use approval.
As part of his three-point plan to combat the coronavirus pandemic, President-elect Joe Biden has set the goal of bringing at least 100 million Americans under vaccination during his first 100 days in office.
Announcing key members of his Health Team in Wilmington, Delaware, Biden said his administration will follow the guidance of scientists and get vaccines to those most at-risk.
Meanwhile, the U.S. saw continued surge in new coronavirus cases, with over 210,000 new cases of infections recorded on Tuesday.
On the stimulus front, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Politico that Republicans and Democrats were "still looking for a way forward" on additional fiscal aid.
Commodity, Currency Markets
Crude oil futures are climbing $0.73 to $46.25 a barrel after edging down $0.08 to $45.52 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after plunging $36.40 to $1,838.50 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are rising $8.20 to $1,846.70 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 104.34 yen versus the 104.23 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.2129 compared to yesterday's $1.2081.
Asia
Asian stocks fell on Thursday as Brexit negotiations reached a stalemate and U.S. lawmakers failed to come to an agreement over a proposed stimulus package.
Chinese shares ended little changed after S&P Dow Jones Indices said it would remove a total of 21 Chinese companies from its equities and bond indexes.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index finished marginally higher at 3,373.28, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended down 92.25 points, or 0.4 percent, at 26.410.59.
Japanese shares ended lower amid stalled U.S. stimulus talks and worries about rising coronavirus cases in the U.S. The Nikkei 225 Index slipped 61.70 points, or 0.2 percent, to 26,756.24, while the broader Topix closed 0.2 percent lower at 1,776.21.
Chip-linked shares fell sharply, with Advantest losing 3.7 percent and Tokyo Electron falling 2 percent. SoftBank Group soared 10.9 percent as the value of its stake in U.S. food delivery app DoorDash rose massively following its initial public offering.
Australian markets fell notably to snap a seven-session rally, with gold miners and technology companies pacing the decliners.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 45.40 points, or 0.7 percent, to 6,683.10, after reaching a nine-month high in the previous session. The broader All Ordinaries Index ended down 48.30 points, or 0.7 percent, at 6,917.10.
Tech stocks follower their U.S. peers lower, with Appen plunging 12.4 percent. WiseTech Global tumbled 3.7 percent.
Regis Resources, Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources lost 3-6 percent as bullion prices slumped on improved risk appetite.
Link Administration Holdings rose 0.9 percent on saying it would give U.S. software firm SS&C Technologies Holdings Inc. due diligence access to improve its offer.
Miners ended with modest losses after seven straight sessions of gains. Energy stocks also ended broadly lower.
Seoul stocks closed lower on massive selling by foreign investors amid uncertainties over the quadruple expiration of key stock derivatives, including Kospi-tracking options and futures.
The benchmark Kospi ended a choppy session down 9.01 points, or 0.3 percent, at 2,746.46 after climbing 2 percent the previous day.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics declined 1.4 percent, No. 2 chipmaker SK Hynix lost 3.3 percent and leading chemical maker LG Chem gave up 2.3 percent.
Europe
European stocks are turning in a mixed performance on Thursday amid stalled Brexit and U.S. stimulus talks.
While the German DAX Index is down by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.6 percent.
Norwegian aluminum and renewable energy company Norsk Hydro ASA has risen. The company said that it will present its strategic direction toward 2025 at the Capital Markets Day.
Industrial and electronics products group Electrocomponents has also surged after it unveiled two acquisitions.
Instrumentation and controls company Spectris has also moved to the upside after it announced the divestment of its Brüel & Kjær Vibro and Millbrook businesses.
Meanwhile, Dutch life insurer Aegon NV has declined. The company said it is targeting a reduction on its gross financial leverage to 5.0 billion euros - 5.5 billion euros by 2023 from 6.6 billion euros on June 30, 2020.
Tour operator TUI AG has also moved lower. The company reported that its fiscal 2020 loss attributable to shareholders was 3.08 billion euros, compared to last year's profit of 532 million euros.
Ocado Group shares have also come under pressure despite the online supermarket lifting its full-year profit forecast.
In economic news, French industrial output climbed 1.6 percent month-on-month in October, the same rate of growth as seen in September, official data showed. This was the sixth consecutive rise in production and faster than the economists' forecast of 0.4 percent.
The U.K. economy expanded for the sixth straight month in October, but the pace of growth moderated as expected, data from the Office for National Statistics revealed.
Gross domestic product climbed 0.4 percent month-on-month, slower than the 1.1 percent growth seen in September.
U.S. Economic Reports
First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits showed a significant increase in the week ended December 5th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.
The report said initial jobless claims jumped to 853,000, an increase of 137,000 from the previous week's revised level of 716,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 725,000 from the 712,000 originally reported for the previous week.
With the much bigger than expected increase, jobless claims reached their highest level since hitting 873,000 in the week ended September 19th.
A separate report released by the Labor Department showed a modest increase in U.S. consumer prices in the month of November.
The Labor Department said its consumer price index rose by 0.2 percent in November after coming in unchanged in October. The uptick in consumer prices matched economist estimates.
Excluding food and energy prices, core consumer prices still edged up by 0.2 percent in November after showing no change in the previous month. Economists had expected core prices to inch up by 0.1 percent.
At 1 pm ET, the Treasury Department is scheduled to announce the results of this month's auction of $24 billion worth of thirty-year bonds.
Stocks In Focus
Shares of Ciena (CIEN) are moving sharply lower in pre-market trading after the networking company reported weaker than expected fiscal fourth quarter earnings.
Consumer electronics retailer Best Buy (BBY) may also move to the downside after Goldman Sachs downgraded its rating on the company's stock to Sell from Neutral.
On the other hand, shares of Starbucks (SBUX) are likely to see initial strength after the coffee giant provided upbeat guidance.
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