The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a lower opening on Thursday, with futures pointing to a moderately higher. The optimism is premised on increasing hopes that the Fed will delay raising rates. Earnings news was bordering on the negative, with Goldman Sachs and Netflix reporting disappointing results. Among the economic data released today, jobless claims unexpectedly fell but manufacturing conditions remain depressed, as reflected by a survey done by the New York Federal Reserve. The markets may also stay focused on the results of another regional manufacturing survey due after the markets open.
U.S. stocks extended their declines on Wednesday amid mixed economic and earnings news. The major averages opened narrowly mixed and showed volatility or rather indecision throughout the session before ending lower.
The Dow Industrials languished mostly below the unchanged line after the early volatile bout before ending down 157.14 points or 0.92 percent at 16,926. The S&P 500 Index, which spent much of the session below the unchanged line ended down 9.45 points or 0.47 percent at 1,994. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite swung wildly on either side of the unchanged line before ending down 13.76 points or 0.29 percent at 4,783.
Nineteen of the thirty Dow components ended lower, while the remaining eleven stocks advanced. Wal-Mart (WMT) slumped over 10 percent after trimming its 2016 outlook and Boeing (BA) declined 4.33 percent. Apple (AAPL), Home Depot (HD), JP Morgan Chase (JPM), United Technologies (UTX), UnitedHealth (UNH) and Visa (V) also fell notably. On the other hand, Intel (INTC), Exxon Mobil (XOM), DuPont (DD) and Chevron (CVX) gained ground in the session.
Among the sectors, retail, housing and financial stocks came under selling pressure, while resource and semiconductor stocks firmed up.
On the economic front, the Commerce Department reported that retail sales rose 0.1 percent month-over-month in September, while the August growth was downwardly revised by 0.2 percentage points to show a flat reading. Core retail sales, which exclude auto, gasoline and building material, rose a mere 0.1 percent. Gasoline station sales fell 3.2 percent and served as a drag on overall sales. Electronics, building material, grocery and general merchandise sales all declined, while auto sales rose 1.8 percent.
Meanwhile, producer prices fell 0.5 percent month-over-month in September, steeper than the 0.2 percent drop expected by economists. Core reading was down 0.3 percent, belying expectations for a 0.1 percent increase. Annually, producer prices fell 1.1 percent compared to a 0.8 percent drop expected by economists.
The Federal Reserve's Beige Book report showed that economic activity during the period from mid-August through early October showed continued modest expansion. Consumer spending growth was reported to be moderate, while manufacturing activity was generally weaker. However, the report noted improvement in housing and commercial real estate markets and generally positive showing by banking and finance sector.
Another Commerce Department report showed that business inventories were little changed in August compared to the previous month, resulting in an annual rate of growth of 2.4 percent. Business sales also fell 0.6 percent from a month ago and declined 3.1 percent from a year earlier. The inventories to sales ratio came in at 1.37 compared to 1.30 in the same month last year.
Currency, Commodity Markets
Crude oil futures are slipping $0.24 to $46.40 a barrel after edging down $0.02 to $46.64 a barrel on Wednesday. Gold futures are adding $5.60 to $1,185.40 an ounce. In the previous session, the December futures ended at $1,179.80 an ounce, up $14.40.
Among currencies, the U.S. dollar is trading at 118.74 yen compared to the 118.83 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1488 compared to yesterday's $1.1474.
Asia
The Asian markets rebounded after mostly declining in the previous two sessions, as weak U.S. data tempered U.S. Fed rate hike worries. A strong performance by Chinese markets amid stimulus hopes also lifted mood in the region.
The Japanese market advanced as the yen stabilized at sub-119 levels. The Nikkei 225 average ignored a weak start and rose above the unchanged line in late morning trading. Thereafter, the average hovered in positive territory before ending up 205.90 points or 1.15 percent at 18,097. A majority of stocks found buying interest, although beverage stocks lost ground.
Australia's All Ordinaries hovered in positive territory throughout the session, ending up 35.20 points or 0.67 percent at 5,266. Material, consumer, energy, financial and real estate stocks were among the biggest gainers of the session.
China's Shanghai Composite Index jumped 75.63 points or 2.32 percent before ending at nearly a 2-month high of 3,338. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended at 22,888, up 448.26 points or 2 percent.
On the economic front, the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that the unemployment rate in Australia remained unchanged at 6.2 percent in September, in line with expectations. The economy added 5,100 jobs in September, smaller than the 9,600 job gains expected by economists. A separate report showed that new motor vehicle sales in Australia rose 5.5 percent month-over-month in September following a 1.7 percent drop in August.
The revised industrial production report released by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed a 1.2 percent month-over-month drop in the output for August, steeper than the 0.5 percent drop estimated initially. Shipments fell a worse than initially estimated 0.7 percent. A separate report showed that the tertiary industry activity index rose 0.1 percent month-over-month compared to a 0 growth expected by economists.
Europe
European stocks are advancing after a 3-session slide, as traders digested some domestic corporate news.
In corporate news, Unilever reported better than expected third quarter sales on strong emerging market showing. Agri-input company Syngenta reported below consensus third quarter sales, weighed down by a weaker Brazilian real. Swedish retailer Hennes & Mauritz reported higher sales for the month of September. U.K. luxury retailer Burberry warned of challenging luxury goods market, especially in China and reported weak sales growth for the first half.
U.S. Economic Reports
The New York Federal Reserve's manufacturing survey showed that manufacturing activity contracted at a more than expected pace in October. The general business conditions index rose two points to -11.4, while economists expected a better improvement to -7.
The new orders index fell to -18.91 from -12.91, the shipments index deteriorated to -13.61 from -7.98 and the unfilled orders index worsened to -15.09 from -8.25. The 6-month outlook index little changed.
First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly decreased in the week ended October 10th, according to a report released by the Labor Department.
The report said initial jobless claims fell to 255,000, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week's revised level of 262,000. The drop surprised economists, who had expected jobless claims to climb to 270,000 from the 263,000 originally reported for the previous week.
A separate report showed that consumer prices fell 0.2 percent month-over-month in September, in line with expectations. Energy prices declined 4.7 percent, while food prices rose 0.4 percent.
Core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, rose 0.2 percent, bigger than the 0.1 percent increase expected by economists. Annually, consumer prices were unchanged.
The Philadelphia Federal Reserve is scheduled to release the results of its business outlook survey for October at 10 am ET. Economists expect the diffusion index of business activity to rise to -1 from -6 in September.
The diffusion index of business activity came in at -6 in September compared to 8.3 in August. Economists had expected a more modest drop to 5.9. The September reading was the lowest since February 2013. The shipments index fell 2 points to 14.8, while the new orders index rose about 4 points to 9.4 and the number of employees index climbed 5 points to 10.2.
New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley will take part in a conversation on the Fed at a crossroads in Washington at 10:30 am ET.
The Energy Information Administration is due to release its weekly petroleum status report for the week ended October 9th at 11 am ET, with the released pushed forward from its customary Wednesday release due to Monday's public holiday.
Crude oil stockpiles rose by 3.1 million barrels to 461 million barrels in the week ended October 2nd. Inventories remained near levels not seen for this time of year in at least the last 80 years. Gasoline inventories rose by 1.9 million barrels and were near the upper limit of the average range. Meanwhile, distillate stockpiles declined by 2.5 million barrels but were in the middle of the average range for this time of the year.
Refinery capacity utilization averaged 90.40 percent over the four weeks ended October 2nd compared to 91.20 percent over the four weeks ended September 25th.
Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester is due to speak on determinants of long-run growth in New York at 4:30 pm ET.
Stocks in Focus
Netflix (NFLX) reported below consensus earnings and revenues for its third quarter, as U.S. subscriber growth slackened.
Citigroup (C) reported better than expected third quarter earnings, while its revenues were about in line. Goldman Sachs' (GS) results missed expectations.
Xilinx (XLNX) reported better than expected second quarter earnings, while its revenues missed expectations. The company also forecast 3-7 percent sequential revenue growth for the fourth quarter.
Philip Morris (PM) reported third quarter results that missed expectations.
Seagate (STX) lowered its revenue guidance to the low end of its previous guidance range.
In an investor meeting at its headquarters, Nike (NKE) said it targets revenues of around $50 billion by 2020. The company also established long-term financial revenue model of high single-digit to low double-digit revenue growth, mid-teens earnings per share growth and expanding returns on invested capital.
Manitowoc (MTW) announced preliminary third quarter results, expecting a steep decline in earnings and lukewarm revenues, citing weakness at its crane business, especially in the Middle East and Asia.
QuickLogic (QUIK) reported preliminary third quarter revenues below its guidance, citing an unexpected and temporary decline of mature product revenue. The company expects a loss of $0.08 per share for the quarter.
United Forest Products (UFPI) reported above-consensus earnings for its third quarter and its sales rose 6.8 percent.
AMD (AMD) Schlumberger (SLB), Wynn Resorts (WYNN), Mattel (MAT) and WD-40 (WDFC) are among the notable companies due to release their quarterly results after the close of trading.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
May 01, 2026 15:54 ET Central banks dominated the economics news flow this week with almost all major ones announcing their latest policy decisions and many boosted expectations for a rate hike in June. In other news, several countries released the preliminary data for first quarter economic growth. In the U.S., comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell were also in focus as his term ends this month.