1. Wall Street points to gains at open
U.S. stock futures pointed to strong gains at the open on Thursday, boosted by a second day of gains in global equities markets.
U.S. stock futures pointed to a 1.47% rise in the blue-chip Dow futures, a 0.65% rise for the S&P 500 futures, while the Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.9%.
On Wednesday, Wall Street ended the worst quarter since 2011 with a rally. Global markets were battered lower in the third quarter by fears over a slowdown in China and uncertainty over the timing of a rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
2. China factory output falls again
Two surveys of China’s manufacturing sector released on Thursday showed that factory activity continued to slow in September, adding to fears over the outlook for the world’s second largest economy.
China’s Caixin manufacturing index fell to 47.2 in September from 47.3 in August, the fastest contraction since March 2009.
The official manufacturing index ticked up to 49.8, up from 49.7 in August, but remained in contraction territory.
3. Euro zone factory growth hits 5-month low
Manufacturing growth across the euro zone has slowed to a five-month low, according to PMI reports out today.
The overall euro zone manufacturing PMI slowed to 52.0, down from 52.3 in August.
German factory growth slowed slightly but the French factory sector expanded. Greece’s factory sector contracted sharply again, but at a slower rate than in August.
4. U.S. data in focus
The U.S. was to release the initial jobless claims report at 8:30AM Eastern time, followed by the ISM Manufacturing index, due for release at 10.30AM ET.
Investors were looking ahead to Friday’s U.S. jobs report for September, which could help to provide clarity on the likelihood of a near-term interest rate hike after data on Wednesday showed that the U.S. private sector added 200,000 jobs last month.
5. Global stocks rally
World equity markets rallied on the first day of the new quarter, extending their recovery from a steep selloff earlier in the week as concerns over a slowdown in China ebbed.
Japan's Nikkei closed up 1.92% on Thursday after falling 14.1% in the third quarter, its steepest decline since 2010. Financial markets in China were closed for a national holiday.
France’s CAC 40 and London's FTSE 100 were also higher in afternoon trade.