Wall Street Might Open Broadly Up

(RTTNews) - The weekly jobless claims and factory orders might be the highlight on Thursday. Investors remain focused on the US government shutdown, even amid assurances of a short duration.

Early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open broadly up.

Asian shares finished higher, while European shares are trading positive

As of 8.20 am ET, the Dow futures were declining 16.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 17.50 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 138.25 points.

The US major averages gave back some ground going into the end the day still finished higher. The Nasdaq climbed 95.15 points or 0.4 percent to 22,755.16, the S&P 500 rose 22.74 points or 0.3 percent to 6,711.20 and the Dow inched up 43.21 points or 0.1 percent to 46,441.10.

On the economic front, the Jobless Claims for the week will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 224K, while it was up 218K in the prior week.

Factory Orders for August will be issued at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 1.4 percent, while it was down 1.3 percent in the prior month.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA's Natural Gas Report for the week will be released at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the gas stock was up 75 bcf.

The Fed Balance Sheet for the week is scheduled at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the Level was up $6.608 trillion.

Thirty-year Treasury Bond auctions will be held at 11.00 am ET.

Three-year Treasury Note auctions will be held at 11.00 am ET.

Ten-year Treasury Note auction will be held at 11.00 am ET.

Asian stocks advanced on Thursday. Chinese markets remained closed for the National Day holiday. Hong Kong 's Hang Seng index jumped 1.61 percent to 27,287.12.

Japanese markets rebounded after four days of losses. The Nikkei average climbed 0.87 percent to 44,936.73 while the broader Topix index settled 0.24 percent lower at 3,087.40.

Australian markets rallied. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.13 percent to 8,945.90 while the broader All Ordinaries index closed up 1.13 percent at 9,240.30.

In the Asian trading session, gold prices were at record levels, while the dollar held steady. Oil prices were marginally higher.