Investing.com - Wall Street futures pointed to a flat open on Thursday after the Dow dashed immediate hopes for busting 20,000 points this year by registering its second largest decline since the November 8 presidential elections.
The blue-chip Dow futures slipped 4 points, or 0.02%, by 6:49AM ET (11:49GMT), the S&P 500 futures advanced 1 point, or 0.02%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 1 point, or 0.02%.
The Dow tumbled more than 100 points at the close on Wednesday in what was only its second triple digit-decline and its ninth down day since the election.
Traders had been focused on whether the blue-chip index would be able to break through the psychologically important level of 20,000 points before the end of 2016 ever since hitting a record high at 19,987.63 points on December 20.
Trading has been thin due to the holiday season with many market participants on vacation or having already closed their books for the year and looking ahead to 2017.
Friday was expected to see even more of a slowdown in a session with no major economic data ahead of a three-day weekend due to Wall Street’s close the following Monday.
Still ahead on Thursday, stocks could move with the publication of the weekly jobless claims data out at 8:30AM ET (15:30GMT). Though the data will likely be skewed by the holidays, the underlying trend is expected to continue giving a solid reading.
Simultaneously, investors will also have readings on the advance merchandise trade balance for November, along with wholesale inventories.
Market participants were also keeping their eyes on oil ahead of fresh weekly information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its weekly report on oil supplies at 11:00AM ET (16:00GMT) Thursday, amid analyst expectations for a decline of 2.0 million barrels.
The report comes out one day later than usual due to last Monday’s holiday.
After markets closed Wednesday, the American Petroleum Institute said that U.S. oil inventories rose by 4.2 million barrels in the week ended December 23, missing expectations for a 1.5 million barrel draw.
U.S. crude oil futures fell 0.31% to $53.89 at by 6:51AM ET (11:51GMT), while Brent oil gained 0.16% to $57.05.
Gold prices rose to a two-week high amid low-volume holiday trading on Thursday, as the U.S. dollar and global stock markets pulled back, boosting the appeal of the yellow metal.
Gold for February delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose to a session peak of $1,151.25 a troy ounce, a level not seen since December 14. At 6:51AM ET (11:51GMT), the precious metal was last up 0.55%, or $6.25, at $1,147.15.
Ahead of the jobless claims data, the U.S. dollar rally lost steam in light pre-New Year holiday trade on Thursday, slipping from its 14-year-high against a basket of currencies as investors took profits in the run-up to the end of the year.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.34% at 102.89 by 6:53AM ET (11:53GMT), pulling back from last week's 14-year peak of 103.62.