U.S. Stocks May Lack Direction In Early Trading

(RTTNews) - After ending the previous session mixed, stocks may continue to experience choppy trading early on Thursday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures up by just 0.1 percent.

Traders may be reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.

The report, which is expected to show employment jumped by 88,000 jobs in July after climbing by 57,000 jobs in June, could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates.

Ahead of the release of the monthly jobs report, the Labor Department released a report this morning showing a slight uptick in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended August 1st.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims inched up to 199,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week's revised level of 198,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 202,000 from the 197,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Meanwhile, a slump by shares of SanDisk (SNDK) may weigh on the tech-heavy Nasdaq, with the memory chip giant plunging by 10 percent in pre-market trading.

The steep drop by SanDisk comes after the company reported better than expected fiscal fourth quarter results but provided disappointing guidance.

Stocks extended their recent upward move in early trading on Wednesday but came under pressure over the course of the session. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 sliding into negative territory.

The major averages saw further downside going into the end of the day. While the Dow remained positive, climbing 263.24 points or 0.5 percent to 54,349.12, the S&P 500 dipped 12.97 points or 0.2 percent at 7,723.55 and the Nasdaq fell 221.55 points or 0.8 percent to 26,363.44.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slid by 0.9 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index rose by 0.6 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.7 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index are both up by 0.2 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are jumping $1.09 to $76.31 a barrel after falling $0.55 to $75.22 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after soaring $152.60 to $4,305.20 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are climbing $24.30 to $4,329.50 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 157.90 yen versus the 157.74 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1541 compared to yesterday's $1.1551.