Yahoo Finance Stocks- U.S. Futures Increase Ahead of Data, Fed Minutes
Investing.com – U.S. futures pointed to a higher opening bell on Thursday, as investors looked ahead to a flurry of economic data and meeting minutes from the Federal Reserve.
The S&P 500 futures gained 15 points or 0.57% to 2,728.75 as of 6:47 AM ET (10:47 GMT) while Dow futures increased 138 points or 0.57% to 24,301.0. Meanwhile tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures gained 44 points or 0.63% to 7,068.00.
Investors are looking ahead to the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s meeting in June, which is expected at 2:00 PM ET (18:00 GMT). The central bank increased interest rates at its last meeting and signalled two more possible rate hikes by the end of the year. Traders will look closely for details on rate increases and the state of the U.S. economy.
Meanwhile trade tensions continued, with the U.S. expected to impose tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods on Friday. Beijing said it will retaliate when the tariffs go into effect.
Automobile maker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (NYSE:FCAU) was among the top gainers in pre-market trading, rising 5.82% after the U.S. offered a zero tariffs solution to the European Union, while fashion retailer American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) increased 4.95% and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) inched up 0.33%. Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) increased 0.55% while General Electric (NYSE:GE) jumped 0.90%.
Elsewhere semiconductor Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) fell 2.29%.
In economics news, ADP employment data is out at 8:15 AM ET (12:15 GMT) followed by jobless claims at 8:30 AM ET (12:30 GMT), services purchasing managers’ index at 9:45 AM ET (13:45 GMT) and the ISM non-manufacturing report at 10:00 AM ET (14:00 GMT).
In Europe stocks were up. Germany’s DAX rose 171 points or 1.39% while in France the CAC 40 increased 56 points or 1.07% and in London, the FTSE 100 was up 37 points or 0.50%. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 gained 38 points or 1.14% while Spain’s IBEX 35 surged 125 points or 1.29%.
In commodities, gold futures fell 0.08% to $1,252.50 a troy ounce while crude oil futures increased 0.40% to $74.44 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.04% to 94.15.
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