Futures Points To Lower Open For Wall Street

(RTTNews) - A slew of U.S. economic data, including reports on retail sales and weekly jobless claims might be the focus on Thursday. Investors are keenly observing the tariff policy and its impacts on different countries.

Asian shares finished mostly up, while European shares are progressing.

Initial signs from the U.S. Futures suggest that Wall Street might open broadly lower.

In the Asian trading session, gold prices slipped around half a percent, while oil prices moved sideways.

As of 8.15 am ET, the Dow futures were down 103.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were declining 5.25 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were gaining 1.75 points.

The U.S. major averages all finished Wedneday in positive territory. The Dow advanced 231.49 points or 0.5 percent to 44,254.78, the Nasdaq rose 52.69 points or 0.3 percent to 20,730.49 and the S&P 500 climbed 19.94 points or 0.3 percent to 6,263.70.

On the economic front, the Labor Department's Jobless Claims for the week will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 233K, while it was up 227K in the prior week.

The Retails Sales for June will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for growth of 0.1 percent, while it was down 0.9 percent in May.

The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index for July will be published at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is down 0.4, while was minus 4 in the prior month.

The Import and Export Prices for June will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is up 0.2 percent, while it was 0.0 percent in the prior month.

The Business Inventories for May is scheduled at 10.00 am ET. The manufacturing invenstories in the prior month was down 0.1 percent.

The Housing Market Index for July will be issued at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is 33, while it was up 32 in the prior month.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA's Natural Gas Report for the week is expected at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the gas stock was up 53 bcf.

The Treasury International Capital for May will be revealed at 4.00 pm ET. In the prior month, the Net Long-Term Securities Transactions were down $7.8 billion.

The Fed Balance Sheet for the week is scheduled at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the Level was up 46.662 trillion.

Asian stocks rose broadly on Thursday. China's Shanghai Composite index rose 0.37 percent to 3,516.83. Hong Kong's Hang finished marginally lower at 24,498.95.

Japanese shares advanced. The Nikkei average climbed 0.60 percent to 39,901.19. The broader Topix index settled 0.72 percent higher at 2,839.81.

Australian markets posted strong gains. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.90 percent to 8,639. The broader All Ordinaries index closed up 0.84 percent at 8,890.80.

European shares are trading higher. CAC 40 of France is adding 71.62 points or 0.93 percent. DAX of Germany is progressing 203.81 points or 0.85 percent. FTSE 100 of England is gaining 28.44 points or 0.32 percent. The Swiss Market Index is climbing 43.26 points or 0.36 percent.

Euro Stoxx 50 that provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is up 0.91 percent.