Wall Street To Bounce Back

(RTTNews) - Private sector employment and weekly jobless claims might be the highlights on Thursday.

The Monthly Jobs Report of the Labor Department also will get attention. Asian shares finished mostly down, while European shares are trading broadly positive.

As of 6.45 am ET, the Dow futures were up 41.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 3.00 points, and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 10.25 points.

The U.S. major averages dropped to new lows on Wednesday. The Nasdaq slumped 173.73 points or 1.2 percent to 14,592.21, the Dow slid 284.85 points or 0.8 percent to 37,430.19 and the S&P 500 fell 38.02 points or 0.8 percent to 4,704.81.

On the economic front, the ADP Employment Report for December will be published at 8.15 am ET. The consensus for private payrolls is 115,000, while it was up 103,000.

The Jobless Claims for the week will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 217.5K, while it was 218K in the previous week.

The PMI Composite Final for December will be released at 9.45 am ET. The consensus for the composite index is up 51.0, while the services index is up 51.3.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA's natural gas report for the week is scheduled at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the stock was down 87 bcf.

The 3-year, 10-year Treasury Note auctions and 30-year Treasury Bond announcements will be held at 11.00 am ET.

Eight-week Treasury Bill auction will be held at 11.30 am ET.

The Fed Balance Sheet for the week will be revealed at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the level was up $7.713 trillion.

Asian stocks fell broadly on Thursday. Chinese markets ended lower. China's Shanghai Composite index lowered 0.43 percent to 2,954.35 while, after a choppy session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index finished marginally down at 16,645.98.

Japanese stocks fell on the first trading day of the year. The Nikkei average slipped 0.53 percent to 33,288.29 while the broader Topix index settled 0.52 percent higher at 2,378.79.

Australian markets declined. The benchmark S&P ASX 200 fell 0.39 percent to 7,494.10. The broader All Ordinaries index settled 0.34 percent lower at 7,730.60.

European shares are trading higher. CAC 40 of France is progressing 13.46 points or 0.18 percent. DAX of Germany is adding 51.52 points or 0.31 percent. FTSE 100 of England is increasing 9.99 points or 0.05 percent. Swiss Market Index is up 5.71 points or 0.05 percent.

Euro Stoxx 50 which provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is up 0.31 percent.