Futures Points To Broadly Higher Open For Wall Street

(RTTNews) - The Weekly Jobless Claims, Housing Starts Data and Philadelphia-area manufacturing activity are the major economic announcements scheduled on Thursday. Developments on the tariff front will be closely monitored by the investors.

Asian shares finished mostly up, while European shares are trading mostly lower.

Early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open broadly up.

As of 8.15 am ET, the Dow futures were down 591.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were progressing 28.25 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were gaining 155.50 points.

The U.S. major averages remained firmly negative at Wednesday's close. The Nasdaq plunged 516.01 points or 3.1 percent to 16,307.16, the S&P 500 tumbled 120.93 points or 2.2 percent to 5,275.70 and the Dow slumped 699.57 points or 1.7 percent to 39,669.39.

On the economic front, the Housing Starts and Permits for March will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The starts consensus is 1.420 million, while it was 1.501 million in the prior month.

The Labor Department's Jobless Claims for the week is scheduled at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 225K, while it was up 223K in the prior week.

The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index for April will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 6.7, while it was up 12.5 in the prior month.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA's Natural Gas Report for the week will be revealed at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the gas stock was 57 bcf.

Five-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities or TIPS auction will be held at 11.30 am ET.

The Baker Hughes Rig Count for the week is expected at 1.00 pm ET. In the prior week, the North America Rig Count was 721 and the U.S. rig count was 583.

The Fed Balance Sheet for the week will be published at 4.30 am ET. In the prior week, the Level was $6.727 trillion.

Fed Governor Michael Barr will speak on 'Cybersecurity in the Banking System' and participates in moderated discussion before the State-of-the-Field Conference on Cyber Risk to Financial Stability at 11.45 am ET.

Asian stocks advanced on Thursday. China's Shanghai Composite Index edged up by 0.1 percent to 3,280.34. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended 1.6 percent higher at 21,395.14.

Japanese markets rallied. The Nikkei 225 Index jumped 1.4 percent to 34,377.60, while the broader Topix Index settled 1.3 percent higher at 2,530.23.

Australian markets rose notably. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.8 percent to close at 7,819.10, while the broader All Ordinaries Index ended up 0.8 percent at 8,021.90.

European shares are trading broadly down. CAC 40 of France is losing 54.49 points or 0.74 percent. DAX of Germany is down 133.87 points or 0.63 percent. FTSE 100 of England is declining 34.85 points or 0.42 percent. The Swiss Market Index is adding 12.20 points or 0.11 percent.

Euro Stoxx 50 that provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is down 0.68 percent.