After seeing substantial weakness in the previous session, stocks are likely to regain some ground in early trading on Thursday. The futures are currently indicating a modestly higher open, with the Dow futures currently up by 16 points.
While bargain hunting may contribute to some early strength on Wall Street following the sell-off that was seen on Wednesday, buying interest seems likely to be relatively subdued.
A report from the Labor Department showing that initial jobless claims remained at an elevated level in the week ended May 28th is likely to help limit any early upside for the markets.
The report showed that initial jobless claims fell to 422,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 428,000, while economists had been expecting jobless claims to edge down to 420,000 from the 424,000 originally reported for the previous week.
With claims hovering well above the key 400,000, the data has added to recent concerns about Friday's monthly employment report.
The Labor Department released a separate report showing that labor productivity in the first quarter was upwardly revised to show an increase of 1.8 percent compared to the 1.6 percent increase that had been reported. Economists had expected the increase in productivity to be upwardly revised to 1.7 percent.
At the same time, the report said the increase in unit labor costs in the first quarter was downwardly revised to show a 0.7 percent increase compared to the previous estimate of a 1.0 percent increase.
The Commerce Department is also due to release its report on factory orders in the month of April at 10 am ET. The report is expected to show that orders fell by 0.9 percent compared to the 3.0 percent increase reported for the previous month.
In corporate news, shares of Joy Global (JOYG) are likely to see early strength after the mining equipment maker reported second quarter earnings that rose to $1.52 per share, exceeding analyst estimates for earnings of $1.35 per share.
Joy Global also reported better than expected revenues for the quarter and raised its full year earnings and revenue guidance.
Copart (CPRT) could also be in focus after reporting first quarter earnings of $0.71 per share, higher than $0.52 per share last year. The company also said its revenues rose 7.4 percent to $236.8 million. Analysts had expected earnings of $0.70 per share on revenues of $241.56 million.
Meanwhile, software giant Microsoft (MSFT) could see some activity on news that it unveiled the latest version of Windows, internally code-named "Windows 8," to its hardware partners.
With another disappointing batch of economic data raising concerns about the outlook for the U.S. economy, stocks saw substantial weakness during trading on Wednesday. The markets experienced broad based selling pressure after closing higher in the four previous sessions.
The major averages saw further downside going into the close, ending the day near their lows for the session. The Dow plunged 279.65 points or 2.2 percent to 12,290.14, the Nasdaq dropped 66.11 points or 2.3 percent to 2,769.19 and the S&P 500 plummeted 30.65 points or 2.3 percent to 1,314.55.
The sharp losses on the day pulled both the Dow and the S&P 500 down to their lowest closing levels in well over a month.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region saw significant weakness on Thursday following the sell-off seen on Wall Street overnight. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Index fell by 1.7 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped by 1.6 percent.
The major European markets have also shown notable moves to the downside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.8 percent while the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index have fallen by 1.1 percent and 1.0 percent, respectively.
Crude oil futures are falling $0.11 to $100.18 a barrel after receding $2.41 to $100.29 a barrel on Wednesday. An ounce of gold is currently trading at $1,541.20, a drop of $2.00 from the previous session's close of 1,543.20 an ounce. On Wednesday, the precious metal fell $6.40.
Among currencies, the U.S. dollar is trading at 80.764 yen compared to the 80.9505 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.4453 compared to yesterday's $1.4328.
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May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.