The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Thursday, as the futures trimmed their losses following the customary press briefing by European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi. Draghi's commitment to support the economy is likely to go down well with traders. Among the economic reports released earlier in the day, jobless claims fell by more than expected. Optimism concerning the global economic recovery may support the markets, given the resolve of global central banks to support flailing growth in the wake of macroeconomic risks.
U.S. stocks received some election comfort and relished a rebound in commodity prices on Wednesday yet still ended the day mixed. The major U.S. averages opened higher but turned mixed in early trading.
The Dow Industrials and the S&P 500 Index continued to trade in positive territory before closing moderately higher. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite showed volatility in the morning, moving back and forth across the unchanged line, before moving decisively into the red in late afternoon trading. The index ended down 2.91 points or 0.06 percent at 4,621.
However, the Dow Industrials added 100.69 points or 0.58 percent before closing at 17,485 and the S&P 500 Index closed 11.47 points or 0.57 percent higher at 2,024. Both the Dow and the S&P 500 reached new record closing highs.
Twenty-five of the thirty Dow components ended higher, with Visa (V), JP Morgan Chase (JPM), DuPont (DD) and Chevron (CVX) leading the gains. On the other hand, Intel (INTC) fell 2.26 percent.
Utilities, basic material, energy and semiconductor stocks gained solid ground, while gold, biotechnology and airline stocks came under selling pressure.
On the economic front, ADP's employment survey showed that the U.S. private sector added 230,000 jobs in October following an addition of 225,000 jobs in September.
The results of Markit's final service sector survey for October showed that the service sector purchasing managers' index fell to 57.1 from 58.9 in September, representing a small downward revision from the flash estimate of 57.3. The reading was in line with expectations.
Meanwhile, the Institute for Supply Management said its non-manufacturing index dropped to 57.1 in October from 58.6 in September. While a reading above 50 indicates continued growth in the service sector, economists had expected the index to show a more modest drop to 58.0.
Currency, Commodity Markets
Crude oil futures are sliding $0.76 to $77.92 a barrel after jumping $1.49 to $78.68 a barrel on Wednesday.
The previous session's advance came amid the release of the weekly petroleum status report, which showed that crude oil stockpiles rose by 0.5 million barrels to 380.2 million barrels in the week ended October 31st and were in the upper half of the average range.
Meanwhile, distillate inventories fell by 0.7 million barrels, remaining near the lower limit of the average range. Gasoline inventories declined by 1.4 million barrels and were below the lower limit of the average range.
Refinery capacity utilization averaged 87.4 percent over the four weeks ended October 31st compared to 87.7 percent over the four weeks ended October 24th.
Gold futures, which plunged $22 to $1,145.70 an ounce in the previous session, are currently slipping $3.30 to $1,142.40 an ounce.
Among currencies, the U.S. dollar is trading at 114.61 yen compared to the 114.64 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.2425 compared to yesterday's $1.2486.
Asia
The Asian markets closed mixed, as traders looked ahead to two interest rate decisions from Europe and more economic data from the U.S.
The Japanese market retreated after a 5-session rally, as the yen stabilized against the dollar. The Nikkei 225 average opened higher and moved sideways in the morning before plunging sharply in late afternoon trading. Thereafter, the average languished below the unchanged line before closing down 144.84 points or 0.86 percent at 16,793. A majority of stocks declined, with real estate stocks leading the slide.
Australia's All Ordinaries also squandered a positive start and some early strength and declined steadily through the rest of the session. At the close of trading, the index was down 13.60 points or 0.25 percent at 5,479.
Financial, industrial, IT, material and real estate stocks saw weakness, while gains by energy, consumer, healthcare, telecom and utility stocks helped to limit the downside for the markets.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed at 23,649, down 46.31 points or 0.20 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index added 6.61 points or 0.27 percent before closing at 2,426.
On the economic front, preliminary data released by Japan's Cabinet Office showed that its leading economic indicators index rose to 105.6 in September from 104.4 in August, coming in slightly above the expected reading of 105.5.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that the jobless rate in Australia held steady at 6.2 percent in October, in line with expectations. The economy added 24,100 jobs, with full time jobs rising 33,400, while 9,400 part time jobs were shed. Economists had expected an addition of 20,000 jobs for the month.
The minutes of the Bank of Japan's October Monetary Policy Board meeting showed that the central bank felt that the pace of the recovery was satisfactory, but it viewed the economic health of commodity exporting countries, the European debt crisis and the pace of recovery in the U.S. as posing downside risks to the domestic economy. Since then, the central bank announced further easing to fight deflation.
Europe
European stocks opened lower after yesterday's strong rally but have trimmed their losses since then, as domestic earnings remained buoyant. However, following the post meeting press conference by Draghi, the averages have rebounded and are currently higher. As expected, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England maintained their respective monetary policy unchanged.
In corporate news, Siemens reported higher a net profit for the fourth quarter but issued lukewarm guidance for the full year. The company also announced plans to sell its hearing aid business to EQT partners for 2.15 billion euros.
Among banks, Societe Generale reported strong third quarter profit growth, and Credit Agricole's third quarter profits also rose year-over-year. Propped up by strong revenue growth, Commerzbank reported higher profits for its third quarter.
Munich Re's third quarter earnings also rose year-over-year, helped by lower disaster costs. Adidas reported third quarter earnings that came in line with estimates by most analysts, while it trimmed its gross margin forecast for the year.
AstraZeneca (AZN) reported better than expected third quarter profits and sales and raised its guidance for the year.
On the economic front, a report released by the German Federal Statistical Office showed that German factory orders rose 0.8 percent month-over-month in September following a 4.2 percent drop in August. Economists expected a 2.2 percent rebound.
U.S. Economic Reports
After reporting increases in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in each of the two previous weeks, the Labor Department released a report showing that initial jobless claims pulled back by more than expected in the week ended November 1st.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell to 278,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's revised level of 288,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 285,000 from the 287,000 originally reported for the previous week.
Reflecting another notable increase in output, the Labor Department released a report showing that U.S. labor productivity increased by more than expected in the third quarter. The report said labor productivity climbed by 2.0 percent in the third quarter following an upwardly revised 2.9 percent increase in the second quarter.
Economists had expected productivity to increase by about 1.5 percent compared to the 2.3 percent growth that had been reported for the previous quarter. Meanwhile, the Labor Department said unit labor costs edged up by 0.3 percent after dipping by a revised 0.5 percent in the second quarter. Labor costs had been expected to rise by 0.5 percent.
Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak to the Chicago Fed International Banking Conference at 12:45 pm ET.
Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester is also due to speak to the NYU Money Marketeers in New York at 7:05 pm ET.
Stocks in Focus
Qualcomm (QCOM) reported below-consensus earnings and revenues for its fourth quarter and issued weak first quarter and full year guidance.
CBS (CBS) reported a strong increase in its third quarter earnings, helped by a gain from the spin-off of its CBS Outdoor unit, while its revenues also rose modestly.
Symantec (SYMC) reported better than expected second quarter earnings and in line revenues. The company's 2015 earnings guidance was positive, while its revenue guidance trailed expectations.
Liberty Global (LBTYA) reversed to a profit in its third quarter, while its revenues were shy of estimates. Separately, the company said it has completed its previously announced tender offer for all of Ziggo's issued and outstanding shares and has received shares representing about 67.2 percent of the outstanding shares.
Prudential Financial (PRU) reported third quarter adjusted operating earnings of $2.20 per share for its financial services business, missing the consensus estimate. However, revenues exceeded expectations.
Knight Transportation (KNX) announced that David Jackson, its president, will become the CEO and a member of the board, effective January 1st, 2015. Meanwhile, incumbent CEO Kevin Knight will remain the company's Chairman.
Dynegy (DYN) reported below-consensus results for its third quarter, with the predicament blamed on mild summer weather and unplanned outages.
Western Digital (WDC) announced an underwritten secondary offering of 5.43 million of its shares by Hitachi.
Genworth (GNW) reported a loss on an operating basis for its third quarter, while its revenues exceeded estimates.
Meanwhile, Kinross Gold (KGC) reported better than expected third quarter results and lowered its production costs guidance for 2014.
Air Methods (AIRM), Allscripts-Misys Healthcare (MDRX), bebe Stores (BEBE), Computer Sciences (CSC), Con Edison (ED), First Solar (FSLR), International Game Technology (IGT), J&J Snack Foods (JJSF), Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF), Monster Beverage (MNST), NVIDIA (NVDA), tw Telecom (TWTC), Disney (DIS) and Zynga (ZNGA) are among the companies due to release their quarterly results after the close of trading.
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