With the official start of the third quarter earnings season, the market might react to financial reports from the major corporates. Jobless Claims and Fed Business Outlook Survey are other major announcements on Thursday. Asian shares closed mixed, while European shares are trading on a negative territory. Initial trading on U.S. Futures Index point to lower opening for Wall Street.
As of 7.15 am ET, the Dow futures were slipping 123 points, the S&P 500 futures were shedding 14 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were slipping 47.75 points.
U.S. stocks closed higher on Wednesday. The Dow climbed 160.16 points or 0.7 percent to 23,157.60, while the Nasdaq inched up 0.56 points or less than 0.1 percent to 6,624.22 and the S&P 500 ticked up 1.90 points or 0.1 percent to 2,561.26.
On the economic front, the Labor Department's Jobless Claims for the week will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The economists are looking for consensus of 240K while it was 243K in the previous week.
Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook Survey report for October will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for 20.2, down from 23.8 in the previous month.
Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank President Esther George will speak on "The U.S. Economy: Rural and Urban Growth" in Altus, Oklahoma, with audience Q&A at 9.30 am ET.
Leading indicators for September will be published at 10.00 am ET. The consensus if for growth of 0.1 percent, it was up 0.4 percent in the previous month.
The Energy Information Administration's (EIA) Natural Gas Report for the week will be published at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the change was 87 bcf.
Two -year, 5-year and 7-year Treasury Note auction will be held at 11.00 am ET. The 30-year Treasury inflation-indexed securities or TIPS acution will be held at 1.00 pm ET.
The Treasury Budget for September will be revealed at 2.00 pm ET. The consensus is for a surplus of $3.0 billion, compared to a deficit of $107.7 billion in the prior month.
The Fed Balance Sheet for the week is expected at 4.30 pm ET. In the previous week, the level was $4.459 trillion.
The Fed Money Supply for week is scheduled at 4.30 pm ET. The M2 weekly change was $12.2 billion.
In the corporate sector, Quest Diagnostics Inc. (DGX) trimmed its earnings forecast and updated sales view for fiscal 2017 primarily due to the financial impact of hurricanes and recently closed acquisitions in the third quarter. For the year, reported earnings per share are now expected to be between $4.87 and $4.92, compared to previous estimate of $4.90 to $5.00. Reported revenues for the year are now expected to be approximately $7.71 billion, while previous estimate was between $7.69 billion and $7.74 billion. Analysts expect revenues of $7.69 billion. Revenue are now expected to increase approximately 2.6 percent, compared to previous growth forecast of 2.3 to 3.1 percent.
German software and service provider SAP SE (SAP) on Thursday lifted its forecast for fiscal 2017 after reporting higher profit in its third quarter. SAP shares were losing around 2 percent in the morning trading in Germany. For fiscal 2017, the company now expects a strong non-IFRS earnings per share performance for the entire year. The company now expects full year 2017 non-IFRS total revenue in a range of 23.4 billion euros to 23.8 billion euros at constant currencies, up from 22.07 billion euros last year. The previous range was 23.3 billion euros to 23.7 billion euros at constant currencies. Non-IFRS operating profit is now expected to be in a range of 6.85 billion euros to 7.0 billion euros at constant currencies, up from 6.63 billion euros a year ago. The lower end of the range was previously 6.8 billion euros.
Asian stocks closed on a mixed note on Thursday. China's Shanghai Composite index ended down 11.62 points or 0.34 percent at 3,370.17, with financials and property developers losing ground. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index closed 11.62 or 0.34 percent lower at 3,370.17.
Japanese shares extended gains for the 13th straight session. The Nikkei average rose 85.47 points or 0.40 percent to 21,448.52, while the broader Topix index closed 0.31 percent higher at 1,730.04.
Australian shares extended gains for a seventh consecutive session. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 inched up 5.60 points or 0.10 percent to 5,896.10 while the All Ordinaries index closed marginally higher at 5,959.80.
European shares are trading lower. CAC 40 of France is declining 29.95 points ro 0.56 percent. DAX of Germany is down 91.76 points or 0.70 percent. FTSE 100 of England is slipping 31.69 points or 0.42 percent. Swiss Market Index is dropping 63.61 points or 0.68 percent.
Euro Stoxx 50 that provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is down 0.75 percent.
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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.