The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open on Thursday, with stocks likely to extend the lackluster performance seen in the previous session.
The futures had been pointing to a modestly lower open but regained ground following the release of a report from the Labor Department showing initial jobless claims rose by more than expected in the week ended March 4th.
The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 211,000, an increase of 21,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 190,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 195,000.
With the bigger than expected increase, jobless claims reached their highest level since hitting 223,000 in the week ended December 24th.
The data may help ease concerns about labor market tightness, which the Federal Reserve has pointed to as a reason for stubbornly elevated inflation.
Trading activity may remain somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to the release of the Labor Department's more closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.
Economists currently expect employment to jump by 203,000 jobs in February after surging by 517,000 jobs in January, while the unemployment rate is expected to hold at 3.4 percent.
Following the sell-off seen during Tuesday's session, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Wednesday. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.
The major averages eventually ended the session mixed. While the Dow slipped 58.06 points or 0.2 percent to 32,798.40, the S&P 500 crept up 5.64 points or 0.1 percent to 3,992.01 and the Nasdaq rose 45.67 points or 0.4 percent to 11,576.00.
The choppy trading on Wall Street reflected uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets following Tuesday's sell-off, which reflected renewed concerns about the outlook for interest following remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
Traders may also have been reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.
The jobs data could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates, as the Fed has warned about labor market tightness.
Ahead of the Labor Department's report on Friday, payroll processor ADP released a report this morning showing private sector employment in the U.S. increased by more than expected in the month of February.
ADP said private sector employment jumped by 242,000 jobs in February after climbing by an upwardly revised 119,000 jobs in January.
Economists had expected private sector employment to increase by 200,000 jobs compared to the addition of 106,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
Meanwhile, the report said annual wage growth for those remaining in their jobs slowed to 7.2 percent in February, reflecting the slowest growth in 12 months.
ADP said annual wage growth for job changers also decelerated to 14.3 percent in February from 14.9 percent in January.
"There is a tradeoff in the labor market right now," said ADP chief economist Nela Richardson. "We're seeing robust hiring, which is good for the economy and workers, but pay growth is still quite elevated."
She added, "The modest slowdown in pay increases, on its own, is unlikely to drive down inflation rapidly in the near term."
A separate report released by the Labor Department showed job openings in the U.S. fell to 10.8 million in January from 11.2 million in December.
Most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves on the day, contributing to the lackluster performance by the broader markets.
Semiconductor stocks showed a substantial move to the upside, however, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surging by 2.7 percent.
Computer hardware and networking stocks also turned in strong performances, contributing to the upward move by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
Housing, airline and steel stocks also moved to the upside on the day, while energy stocks moved lower along with the price of crude oil.
Commodity, Currency Markets
Crude oil futures are rising $0.32 to $76.98 a barrel after slumping $0.92 to $76.66 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after edging down $1.40 to $1,818.60 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are inching up $2.60 to $1,821.20 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 136.18 yen versus the 137.36 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0558 compared to yesterday's $1.0545.
Asia
Asian stocks ended mixed on Thursday, as concerns persisted about headwinds from rising global rates and China reported downbeat inflation data.
The dollar hovered near a three-month high after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated a hawkish message on the second day of testimony to U.S. Congress but said the central bank was yet to decide on the size of a potential interest-rate rise later this month.
Oil and gold prices struggled for direction in Asian trading, waiting to take cues from Friday's U.S. jobs report and next week's inflation figures.
Chinese shares declined after the release of weak inflation data. China's consumer price inflation grew 1.0 percent on a yearly basis in February, weaker than the 2.1 percent gain in January and marking the slowest pace since February last year due to weak demand following the Lunar New Year holidays, official data showed.
Separate data showed producer prices declined further in February, down 1.4 percent after a 0.8 percent decrease in January.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dipped 0.2 percent to 3,276.09, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed 0.6 percent lower at 19,925.74.
Japanese shares rose for a fifth straight session to hit a 6-1/2-month high after data showed the country narrowly avoided a recession at the end of last year.
Investor sentiment was also underpinned by expectations for no imminent change to Bank of Japan stimulus as the central bank concludes its two-day policy meeting on Friday.
The Nikkei 225 Index climbed 0.6 percent to 28,623.15. Real estate and financial shares topped the gainers list as investors hunted for high dividend yields.
Convenience store operator Seven & i Holdings jumped 4.1 percent after reports that it was closing some of its Ito Yokado supermarket locations.
Seoul stocks fell for a second day running amid selling by foreign investors. The Kospi settled 0.5 percent lower at 2,419.09, dragged down by battery makers. LG Energy and Solution gave up 2.3 percent and rival Samsung SDI lost 2.9 percent.
Australian markets finished marginally higher, recovering from an early slide on the back of gains in financial and technology stocks. Miners declined, with BHP falling 2.2 percent on going ex-dividend.
Energy stocks advanced despite oil prices falling to their lowest in more than a week in the previous session on concerns about the outlook for energy demand.
Xero soared 10.7 percent after the cloud accounting platform said it would shed up to 800 jobs or about 16 percent of its workforce.
Europe
European stocks have moved mostly lower on Thursday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated his warning to lawmakers that the central bank may raise interest rates higher than previously anticipated.
During a second day of congressional testimony, Powell once again acknowledged that the U.S. central bank was wrong in initially thinking inflation was only the result of "transitory" factors.
Weaker-than-expected inflation data from China also pointed to a sluggish economic recovery in the country.
While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has slid by 0.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are both down by 0.4 percent.
Italy's Enel has fallen on news it will sell its Romanian operations to Greece's Public Power Corp DEHr.AT (PPC) for 1.26 billion euros ($1.33 billion).
Swiss lender Credit Suisse has also shown a significant move to the downside after postponing publication of its annual report.
Fast-food giant Domino's Pizza Group has also moved sharply lower in London after reporting a decrease in annual profit.
DS Smith has also slumped despite the packing company delivering third quarter trading in line with management expectations.
German real estate firm LEG Immobilien has also plummeted after suspending its dividend for 2022.
Hugo Boss has also fallen. After reporting record sales in the 12 months to December 31, 2022, the fashion house said it expects sales to rise "in the teens" percentage range in 2023.
Meanwhile, Event organizer Informa has rallied after buying Tarsus Group from private equity firm Charterhouse Capital Partners for $940 million.
Eutelsat has also risen in Paris after it signed a multi-orbit agreement with Intelsat to enhance connectivity solutions over Europe, the Middle East, and the Pacific, including OneWeb services.
On the economic front, French payroll employment increased in the fourth quarter, reflecting an improvement in the private sector job creation, final data from the statistical office INSEE showed earlier today.
Overall payroll employment grew 0.2 percent or 44,000 in the fourth quarter. This was slower than the 0.3 percent or 84,100 jobs created in the third quarter.
U.S. Economic Reports
A day ahead of the release of the more closely watched monthly jobs report, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by more than expected in the week ended March 4th.
The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 211,000, an increase of 21,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 190,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 195,000.
With the bigger than expected increase, jobless claims reached their highest level since hitting 223,000 in the week ended December 24th.
The Labor Department also said the less volatile four-week moving average crept up to 197,000, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week's unrevised average of 193,000.
At 1 pm ET, the Treasury Department is scheduled to announce the results of this month's auction of $18 billion worth of thirty-year bonds.
Stocks In Focus
Shares of Silvergate Capital (SI) are plummeting in pre-market trading after the holding company for Silvergate Bank announced its intent to wind down operations and voluntarily liquidate the bank.
Database platform provider MongoDB (MDB) is also seeing substantial pre-market weakness after reporting better than expected fiscal fourth quarter results but providing disappointing guidance.
On the other hand, shares of Hilton (HLT) may move to the upside after Barclays upgraded its rating on the hotel chain's stock to Overweight from Equal Weight.
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