Wall Street Might Slip At Open

(RTTNews) - At least 13 people were killed as Russia's drones hit Dnipro train station in central Ukraine. Diplomatic efforts to deescalate the Middle East crisis is going on.

In the Asian trading session, oil prices were lower on Thursday. Brent crude futures dropped 0.7 percent to $114.54 a barrel. WTI crude futures were down 0.9 percent at $101.81.

Gold prices fell toward $4,000 an ounce, spot gold fell almost 1 percent to $4,027.08 an ounce while U.S. gold futures were down 0.3 percent at $4,040.62 an ounce.

As of 8.05 am ET, the Dow futures were declining 184.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were down 35.50 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were falling 387.75 points.

The U.S. major averages closed modestly higher on Wednesday. The Dow edged up 97.53 points or 0.2 percent at 52,475.10, the S&P 500 rose 21.38 points or 0.3 percent to 7,743.98 and the Nasdaq climbed 72.04 points or 0.3 percent to 26,549.85.

On the economic front, the Commerce Department's Gross Domestic Product or GDP for the third quarter will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for growth of 3.1 percent, while it was up 2.2 percent in the prior year.

The Jobless Claims for the week will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus for initial claims is 198K, while it was up 194K in the prior week.

The Personal Income and Outlays for September will be published at 8.30 am ET. The consensus for an increase of 0.3 percent, while it was up 0.2 percent in the prior month.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA's Natural Gas report for the week is scheduled at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the gas stock was up 77 bcf.

The 7-year Treasury Note auction will be held at 1.00 pm ET.

The Fed Balance Sheet for the week is expected at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the Level was at $6.754 trillion.

Asian stocks ended mixed on Thursday. China's Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.82 percent to 3,651.43. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slipped 0.59 percent to 22,958.65.

Japanese markets advanced. The Nikkei average closed 1.10 percent higher at 64,659.47. The broader Topix index inched up 0.29 percent to 4,003.28.

Australian markets eked out modest gains. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose haff a percent to 8,891.80 while the broader All Ordinaries index settled 0.46 percent higher at 9,012.60.