Futures Pointing To A Lower Open On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - Stocks are likely to move to the downside in early trading on Thursday, giving back some ground after ending the previous session moderately higher. The major index futures are currently pointing to a lower open for the markets, with the Dow futures down by 31 points.

The downward momentum for the markets is partly due to concerns about the economic impact of new sanctions against Russia.

Citing Russia's continued attempts to destabilize Ukraine, the U.S. imposed a broad-based package of sanctions on entities in the Russian financial services, energy, and arms or related materiel sectors.

Peter Boockvar, chief market analyst at the Lindsey Group, described the sanction news as a convenient excuse to sell stocks, suggesting that the continued highs by the major averages are hiding the tenuous internals of the U.S. stock market.

A disappointing report on new residential construction in the U.S. may also weigh on the markets, with housing starts falling to a nine-month low.

The Commerce Department said housing starts tumbled 9.3 percent to an annual rate of 893,000 in June from the revised May estimate of 985,000.