The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat opening on Thursday, with stocks likely to show a lack of direction following the volatility seen over the past few sessions.
Traders may be reluctant to make significant moves early on as they digest recent swings by stocks and the roller coaster ride by oil prices.
Crude oil prices are currently extending the rally seen in the previous session after the front-month contract turned negative for the first time in history earlier this week.
Early trading may also be impacted by reaction to the Labor Department's report on initial jobless claims in the week ended April 18th.
The report showed more than 4 million people filed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, although that reflects a continued decline from the nearly 7 million people that filed first-time claims in the last week of March.
Stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading day on Wednesday, partly offsetting the steep drop seen earlier this week. The major averages all showed significant moves to the upside on the day.
The major averages pulled back off their highs going into the close but still posted strong gains. The Dow jumped 456.94 points or 2 percent to 23,475.82, the Nasdaq spiked 232.15 points or 2.8 percent to 8,495.38 and the S&P 500 surged up 62.75 points or 2.3 percent to 2,799.31.
The rally on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to a substantial rebound in oil prices following the historic drop seen earlier this week.
The front month crude oil contract turned negative for the first time in history on Monday, and later month futures showed another substantial move to the downside on Tuesday.
However, crude oil for June delivery moved sharply higher over the course of the day after falling near $10 a barrel overnight. Crude for June delivery surged up $2.21 to $13.78 a barrel.
Buying interest was also generated in reaction to news that the Senate has passed a new bill to provide funding for hospitals and small businesses and expand coronavirus testing.
The $484 billion aid package was approved unanimously by the Senate and now heads to the House, which could approve the bill as soon as Thursday.
President Donald Trump has said he will sign the bill and then plans to begin discussions on additional legislation to provide fiscal relief for states and local governments, increase infrastructure spending, provide tax incentives for restaurants and entertainment businesses and cut payroll taxes.
Gold stocks turned in some of the market's best performances on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 6.9 percent to its best closing level in well over three years.
The rally by gold stocks came amid a substantial increase by the price of the precious metal.
Significant strength was also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 5.9 percent spike by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.
The jump in oil prices also contributed to considerable strength among energy stocks, with the NYSE Arca Oil Index and the Philadelphia Oil Service Index surging up by 4.8 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively.
Networking, software, utilities and chemical stocks also showed strong moves to the upside amid broad based buying interest on Wall Street.
Commodity, Currency Markets
Crude oil futures are soaring $2.50 to $16.28 a barrel after spiking $2.21 to $13.78 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after skyrocketing $50.50 to $1,738.30 ounce in the previous session, gold futures are climbing $7.70 to $1,746 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 107.45 yen compared to the 107.75 it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0790 compared to yesterday's $1.0823.
Asia
Asian stocks ended mixed on Thursday even as the U.S. and Mexico kicked in more stimulus to limit the coronavirus fallout.
U.S. Congress is set to pass a nearly $500 billion coronavirus aid bill later today, with even more relief measures expected to follow to cushion the economic blow from the outbreak.
Mexico proposed increasing spending on social programs and infrastructure projects by $25.6 billion after the country moved to "Phase Three," the most serious stage of the pandemic.
Chinese shares drifted lower amid mounting economic uncertainty sparked by the coronavirus pandemic. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.2 percent to 2,838.50, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.4 percent to 23,977.32.
S&P Global Ratings cautioned that credit conditions in the Asia-Pacific region would be "very tough" going into the second half of 2020 and that long-term recovery remained uncertain due to damage from the outbreak.
Japanese shares rallied as U.S. stocks rebounded and investors eyed another stimulus package from Congress. The Nikkei 225 Index jumped 291.49 points, or 1.5 percent, to 19,429.44 after three straight sessions of losses. The broader Topix closed 1.4 percent higher at 1425.98.
Oil company Inpex surged 6 percent and Japan Petroleum soared 5.6 percent, while automaker Honda Motor added 3.9 percent and Toyota Motor gained 1.1 percent.
Investors shrugged off a survey showing that the manufacturing sector in Japan contracted at a faster pace in April.
Australian markets fluctuated before finishing marginally lower as survey data from IHS Markit showed the country's private sector contracted at a much stronger pace in April, with a severe drop reported by service providers due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Banks finished broadly lower, with Commonwealth losing 0.7 percent and NAB declining 1.1 percent. Private hospitals giant Ramsay Health Care plunged 5.9 percent after completing a discounted share placement.
Mining heavyweights BHP and Rio Tinto rose 2.7 percent and 1 percent, respectively. Lynas shares soared 16.9 percent after the company said the U.S. military has chosen the company for the initial funding for a U.S.-based rare earths separation facility in Texas.
Santos jumped 6.8 percent as the country's second-largest independent gas producer reassured investors on its financial position to weather the recent plunge in prices.
Seoul stocks rose for the second straight session as rebounding oil prices helped offset disappointing GDP data. The benchmark Kospi climbed 18.58 points, or 1 percent, to 1,914.73.
South Korea's gross domestic product contracted a seasonally adjusted 1.4 percent sequentially in the first quarter of 2020, the Bank of Korea said in an advance estimate. That follows the 1.3 percent increase in the previous three months.
South Korean health authorities said today that they would prepare medical resources for a possible second wave of the Covid-19 infections this autumn and winter in conjunction with flu season.
Europe
European stocks have recovered from an early slide to turn mixed on Thursday even as the latest PMI readings showed that Europe is enduring a historic collapse in economic activity.
Energy stocks have moved broadly higher as oil prices continue to rebound on the prospect of fresh U.S.-Iran tensions.
Tensions between Washington and Tehran flared Wednesday after Iran's Revolutionary Guard conducted a space launch that could advance the country's long-range missile program.
U.S. President Donald Trump also threatened to engage Iranian vessels that "harassed" U.S. navy vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, U.S. Congress looks on course to approve nearly $500 billion more in aid to help small businesses, while European Union leaders will make another attempt to agree on a shared fiscal response to a recession looming as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
While the German DAX Index is down by 0.1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.4 percent.
Rexel, a distributor of electrical supplies, has moved sharply higher after reporting a marginal drop in sales for the first quarter of 2020.
Wirecard shares have also jumped. The payments company said auditing firm KPMG did not find any manipulation in its audit of the company's operations in India, Singapore, Third Party Partner Business, Merchant Cash Advance and Digital Lending divisions.
Tullow Oil has also spiked after it agreed to transfer its entire interests in Blocks 1, 1A, 2 and 3A in Uganda and the proposed East African Crude Oil Pipeline System to Total Uganda for a cash consideration of $575 million plus potential contingent payments after first oil.
SKF, the world's biggest maker of ball bearings, has also surged higher after reporting solid first-quarter operating earnings.
On the other hand, consumer goods company Unilever has moved to the downside after withdrawing is 2020 guidance.
Swiss banking major Credit Suisse Group has also come under pressure as it warned of impairments in the coming quarters.
In economic news, German consumer confidence is set to reach a historic low in May due to the coronavirus pandemic and the control measures taken to curb the virus, survey results from the market research group GfK showed.
The forward-looking consumer sentiment index fell to -23.4 in May from a revised 2.3 in April. The survey was conducted in the first two weeks of April, when consumers started feeling the full impact of the containment measures.
The euro area private sector suffered its steepest drops in business activity and employment due to the measures taken to contain the spread of coronavirus, flash survey data from IHS Markit showed.
The flash IHS Markit composite output index plummeted to an all-time low of 13.5 in April, down from a prior record low of 29.7 in March. This was the largest monthly collapse in output recorded in over two decades of survey data collection.
The services Purchasing Managers' Index plunged to a record low 11.7 from 26.4 in March, while the manufacturing PMI came in at 33.6, down from 44.5 in the previous month.
U.S. Economic Reports
As mentioned above, the Labor Department released its report on first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended April 18th.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims dropped to 4.427 million, a decrease of 810,000 from the previous week's revised level of 5.237 million.
Economists had expected jobless claims to slump to 4.200 million from the 5.245 million originally reported for the previous week.
Jobless claims remain at a substantially elevated level due to the coronavirus-induced economic shutdown but have slid steadily since reaching a record high of 6.867 million in the week ended March 28th.
At 10 am ET, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release its report on new home sales in the month of March.
Economists expect new home sales to nosedive by 15.7 percent to an annual rate of 645,000 in March after slumping by 4.4 percent to a rate of 765,000 in February.
The Treasury Department is due to announce the details of this week's auctions of two-year, five-year and seven-year notes at 11 am ET.
Stocks In Focus
Shares of Hershey Foods (HSY) are moving notably lower in pre-market trading after the candy maker reported weaker than expected first quarter results.
Apparel retailer Gap (GPS) may also come under pressure after warning existing cash and cash expected to be generated from operations may not be sufficient to fund its operations.
On the other hand, shares of Las Vegas Sands (LVS) are likely to see initial strength after the casino operator reported a narrower than expected first quarter loss and said it expects a speedy recovery in Asia.
Homebuilder PulteGroup (PHM) may also move to the upside after reporting first quarter earnings that exceeded analyst estimates.
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April 10, 2026 16:21 ET Inflation data from the U.S. was the main data event this week as the conflict in the Middle East continue. The minutes of the latest Fed policy session and the survey data on the services sector also made headlines. In Europe, manufacturing orders data from Germany was in focus. Price data from China drew attention in Asia.