Wall Street Targets To Open Positive

(RTTNews) - The Consumer Price inflation report might be focus on Thursday. Early trends from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open higher.

Asian shares finished broadly up, while European shares are trading positive.

As of 8.20 am ET, the Dow futures were up 78.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 13.25 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 63.75 points.

The U.S. major averages finished higher on Wednesday. The S&P 500 rose 19.43 points or 0.3 percent to 6,532.04 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq inched up 6.57 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 21,886.06.

On the economic front, the Labor Department's Consumer Price Index or CPI for August will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 0.3 percent, while it was up 0.2 percent in the prior month.

The Jobless Claims for the week will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 234K, while it was up 237K in the prior week.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA's Natural Gas Report for the week will be published at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the gas stock was up 55 bcf.

Ten-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities or TIPS announcement is expected at 11.00 am ET.

Twenty-year Treasury Bond auction will be held at 11.00 am ET and the 30-year Treasury Bond auction will be held at 1.00 pm ET.

The Treasury Department's Statement for August will be released at 2.00 pm ET. The consensus is for a deficit of $310 billion, while the deficit in the prior month was $291.1 billion.

The Fed Balance Sheet for the week is scheduled at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the Level was at $6.602 trillion.

Asian stocks ended mixed on Thursday. China's Shanghai Composite Index climbed 1.7 percent to 3,875.31. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.4 percent to 26,086.32.

Japanese markets rallied. The Nikkei 225 Index were up 1.2 percent at 44,372.50. The broader Topix Index settled 0.2 percent higher at 3,147.76.

Australian markets ended slightly lower. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index dipped by 0.3 percent to 8,805, while the broader All Ordinaries Index closed down 0.3 percent at 9,071.40.

European shares are trading higher. CAC 40 of France is progressing 73.26 points or 0.94 percent. DAX of Germany is gaining 56.29 points or 0.24 percent. FTSE 100 of England is adding 38.88 points or 0.42 percent. The Swiss Market Index is climbing 63.06 points or 0.52 percent.

Euro Stoxx 50 that provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is up 0.42 percent.