Economic announcements and Fed Speeches might be on focus on Thursday. Investors are analyzing the US-China summit in Beijing and the reflections on the Middle East conflict.
Oil prices traded higher on Thursday, while the International Energy Agency warned that global oil inventories are falling at a record pace and will continue to drop for months.
Gold prices were a tad higher. Spot gold edged up by 0.2 percent to $4,698.72 an ounce while U.S. gold futures were little changed at $4,705.05.
Initial trends on the U.S. Futures point to significantly higher opening for Wall Street.
As of 8.00 am ET, the Dow futures were surging 417.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were up 26.75 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were gaining 75.75 points.
The U.S. major averages finished broadly up on Wednesday. The Dow slipped 67.36 points or 0.1 percent to 49,693.20, the S&P 500 advanced 43.29 points or 0.6 percent to 7,444.25 and the Nasdaq shot up 314.14 points or 1.2 percent to 26,402.34.
On the economic front, the Jobless Claims for the week will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus for initial claims level is 208k, while it was up 200k in the prior week. Initial claims change in the prior week was 10k.
Retail Sales for April will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 0.5 percent, while it was up 1.7 percent in the previous month.
The Retail Sales for April will be published at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 0.5 percent, while it was up 1.7 percent in March.
The Import and Export Prices for April will be revealed at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 1.0 percent, while it was up 0.8 percent in the prior month.
The Business Inventories for March is scheduled at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is 0.3 percent, while it was up 0.4 percent in February.
The Energy Information Administration or EIA's for Natural Gas Report for the week will be issued at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week gas stock was up 63 bcf.
The Fed Balance Sheet for the week will be published at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the Level was $6.710 trillion.
Ten-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities or TIPS will be issued at 11.00 am ET.
Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid will speak on 'Payments Innovation and Community Banking' before the 'Future of Banking Conference' hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City at 10.15Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack will give opening remarks before virtual Conversations on Central Banking:'The Case for Central Bank Independence' hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and its Center for Inflation Research at 1.00 pm ET.
Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman will give opening remarks before the 'Future of Banking Conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City at 1.00 pm ET.
New York Fed President John Williams will participates in moderated discussion before event organized by the Conference of Business Economists at 5.45 pm ET.
Federal Reserve Board Governor Michael Barr speaks on 'Balance Sheet' before a Money Marketeers FOMC event at 7.00 pm ET.
Asian stocks ended mixed on Thursday. China's Shanghai Composite index fell 1.52 percent to 4,177.92. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index finished marginally higher at 26,389.04.
Japanese shares tumbled. The Nikkei average ended 0.98 percent lower at 62,654.05. The broader Topix index settled 1.03 percent lower at 3,879.27.
Australian stocks edged up slightly. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 inched up 0.12 percent to 8,640.70 while the broader All Ordinaries index ended marginally higher at 8,884.70.
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Business News
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.