FX: Futures Fall As Greece Worries Continue; Traders Wait for Data
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Stock futures were a tad lower Thursday as a proposed European Union aid package for Greece gathered more resistance from some of continents more influential members while U.S. investors waited for important economic data regarding jobs and inflation.
As of 7 a.m. in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 9 points, or 0.08%, to 10654, the S&P 500 futures were down 1.3 points to 1159.70 and the Nasdaq 100 futures fell 3 points to 1931.00.
Greek officials told The Wall Street Journal and other news outlets that the country may have to turn to the International Monetary Fund for aid instead of its European Union partners if something is not decided by the first week of April.
Meanwhile German officials said that a financial aid package, which previously had been the works for Greece, should not be expected by the time the EU's financial ministers meet next week.
Germany had been the strongest voice against a bailout for Greece, but the volume of opposition had recently gotten louder. Chancellor Angela Merkel said this week she would support measures to possibly evict Greece and other financially irresponsible countries from the EU.
The announcement by Greece is somewhat of a departure to previous observations where finance ministers believed the EU member countries could come to some loan guarantee agreement for Greece in the coming weeks.
The news overnight sent the euro down 0.4% against the dollar and 0.6% against the yen. Commodities were not as heavily affected by the currency move as it had been previously, with gold up 0.2% to $1,125.90 and oil down 0.5% to $82.47.
Before the open, Wall Street will get consumer inflation and weekly jobless claims figures from the Department of Labor. Economists expect the consumer price index rose by 0.1% in February versus the 0.2% rise in January, while "core" inflation, which excludes food and energy costs, is expected to rise 0.1% as well.
Weekly jobless claims are expected to fall by 12,000 to 450,000 claims for the week of March 13, according to estimates, while continuing claims are expected to fall 58,000 to 4.5 million.
On Wednesday, the Dow rose 47.69 points, or 0.45%, to 10733.67, the Standard & Poor's 500 gained 6.75 points, or 0.58%, to 1166.21 and the Nasdaq Composite picked up 11.08 points, or 0.47%, to 2389.09. The FOX 50 added 3.87 points, or 0.46%, to 841.79.
