Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a moderately lower open on Thursday, as markets were eyeing the Federal Reserve's upcoming policy meeting next week, amid uncertainty over the future of the central bank's stimulus program.
Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.20% fall, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.17% loss, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.15% slip.
Recent news that U.S. Congressional leaders reached an agreement on a two year budget deal was seen as increasing the likelihood that the Fed would begin to scale back its USD85 billion a month asset purchase program at next week’s policy meeting.
Late Tuesday, U.S. Senate Democrats and Republicans reached a deal to reduce automatic spending cuts and the deficit levels by USD23 billion over two years. The agreement still needs to be voted by the House of Representatives on Friday, as well as a by the Senate shortly after.
Aircraft manufacturers were likely to be in focus, after Boeing ousted Airbus as Air Canada’s primary supplier of narrow-body jets, winning an order valued at USD6.5 billion for the 737 Max model.
The financial sector was also expected to be active, as the New York Times reported that JPMorgan Chase may have to pay about USD2 billion to resolve U.S. probes into whether the bank ignored signs of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.
Shares in the U.S. lender were up 0.11% in after-hour trade.
Meanwhile, Facebook, up 3.75% in early trading, was expected to join the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 Index next week, cementing the social-networking company’s recovery from the turbulence that followed last year’s initial public offering.
Elsewhere, Hilton Worldwide Holdings, the world’s biggest hotel operator, raised USD2.35 billion in a record initial public offering for a lodging company.
Other stocks likely to be in focus included Lululemon Athletica, Hovnanian and Ciena, scheduled to release quaterly earnings reports later in the day.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were lower. The EURO STOXX 50 slipped 0.29%, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.10%, Germany's DAX dropped 0.50%, while Britain's FTSE 100 retreated 0.65%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 0.51%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index tumbled 1.12%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce data on retail sales, as well as the weekly report on initial jobless claims.
Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.20% fall, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.17% loss, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.15% slip.
Recent news that U.S. Congressional leaders reached an agreement on a two year budget deal was seen as increasing the likelihood that the Fed would begin to scale back its USD85 billion a month asset purchase program at next week’s policy meeting.
Late Tuesday, U.S. Senate Democrats and Republicans reached a deal to reduce automatic spending cuts and the deficit levels by USD23 billion over two years. The agreement still needs to be voted by the House of Representatives on Friday, as well as a by the Senate shortly after.
Aircraft manufacturers were likely to be in focus, after Boeing ousted Airbus as Air Canada’s primary supplier of narrow-body jets, winning an order valued at USD6.5 billion for the 737 Max model.
The financial sector was also expected to be active, as the New York Times reported that JPMorgan Chase may have to pay about USD2 billion to resolve U.S. probes into whether the bank ignored signs of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.
Shares in the U.S. lender were up 0.11% in after-hour trade.
Meanwhile, Facebook, up 3.75% in early trading, was expected to join the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 Index next week, cementing the social-networking company’s recovery from the turbulence that followed last year’s initial public offering.
Elsewhere, Hilton Worldwide Holdings, the world’s biggest hotel operator, raised USD2.35 billion in a record initial public offering for a lodging company.
Other stocks likely to be in focus included Lululemon Athletica, Hovnanian and Ciena, scheduled to release quaterly earnings reports later in the day.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were lower. The EURO STOXX 50 slipped 0.29%, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.10%, Germany's DAX dropped 0.50%, while Britain's FTSE 100 retreated 0.65%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 0.51%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index tumbled 1.12%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce data on retail sales, as well as the weekly report on initial jobless claims.