U.S. stock futures point to a lackluster open Thursday morning, the last trading day of the first quarter of calendar year 2011. Traders might focus on a slew of economic data, including weekly jobless claims, factory goods orders and ISM business survey for more cues on the health of the economy. Re-emergence of debt concerns in Europe and bounce back in crude oil prices in the international market might haunt sentiment in early trading.
As at 6.15 a.m. ET, the Dow futures were up 4.00 points; however, the S&P futures down 0.80 points from previous close and the tech-heavy Nasdaq futures were down 2.00 points from previous close.
On the economic front, traders might focus on the customary jobless claims report for the week ended March 27, slated for release by the Labor Department at 8.30 a.m ET. Economists expect claims of around 383,000 for the week.
At 9.45 a.m. ET, traders will turn their attention to the results of the Institute of Supply Management-Chicago's business survey for March. Economists expect the business barometer index based on the survey to edge down to 69.5.
At 10.00 a.m ET, the Commerce Department will release its report on factory goods orders for February. Economists estimate factory good orders for the month to increase by 0.4 percent.
In corporate news, billionaire investor Warren Buffett's Bershire Hathway Inc. (BRK-B) might be in focus after David Sokol, a top executive of the company, who was seen as a strong contender to succeed Warren Buffett, has resigned unexpectedly. Sokol had bought shares of specialty chemical company Lubrizol Corp. (LZ) shortly before he recommended the company as a takeover target to Buffett.
Software giant Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) said that it is filing a formal complaint with the European Commission against search engine provider Google, Inc. (GOOG) on the violation of the European competition law. While Google controls about 95 percent of the search market in Europe, Microsoft serves about a quarter in the U.S. either through its search service Bing or through its partnership with Yahoo! (YHOO).
Fertilizer giant Mosaic Co. (MOS) said that its third quarter profit more than doubled from last year, helped by significantly higher phosphate selling prices and the favorable effect of higher potash production. The company's quarterly earnings per share also handily beat analysts' estimate, but its quarterly sales fell short of analysts' forecast.
CIT Group Inc. (CIT), a leading provider of financing to small businesses and middle market companies, announced that it will redeem an additional $2.5 billion of its 7% Series A Second Lien Notes. This redemption will include the approximately $1.1 billion principal amount of remaining 2013 Series A Notes and approximately $1.4 billion principal amount of the 2014 Series A Notes.
SunTrust Banks. Inc. (STI) announced that it has completed its previously announced repurchase of $3.50 billion of Fixed Rate Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series C and $1.35 billion of Fixed Rate Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series D held by the United States Treasury under the Capital Purchase Program of Troubled Asset Relief Program or TARP.
Oil Light sweet crude oil for May delivery is presently quoted at $105.16 a barrel, up $0.89 a barrel from its previous close of $104.27 a barrel in New York on Wednesday.
Dollar The US dollar is trading weaker against the Japanese yen, the pound sterling and the euro.
World Markets Asian markets, barring China, ended Thursday's trading session in the green, albeit with moderate gains, taking cues from Wall Street where the major averages ended in the positive territory on increasing optimism about the sustainability of economic recovery. The European markets presently trading in the red with minor losses.
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May 22, 2026 14:46 ET Minutes of the latest Fed policy session was the highlight of the week along with survey data on the U.S. housing market. In Europe, survey data signaled the trends in the euro area private sector. Further, consumer price inflation data from the U.K. was in focus. In Asia, various economic indicators from China drew attention to the health of the economy.