MW: U.S. futures edge lower; gold soars to new high
Dollar falls against major rivals; Alcoa earnings on tap later
By Simon Kennedy, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock-index futures traded marginally lower on Thursday as investors awaited the start of the third-quarter earnings season, while gold futures soared to yet another record high.
Future for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJZ10 10,888, -18.00, -0.17%) fell 5 points to 10,901 and S&P 500 futures (SPZ10 1,157, +1.20, +0.10%) were little changed at 1,155.
Futures on the Nasdaq 100 (NDZ10 2,004, -0.75, -0.04%) slipped 4 points to 2,000.25.
The moves came after a mixed session for U.S. markets Wednesday, in which the Dow industrials (DJIA 10,968, +22.93, +0.21%) posted a modest gain, while the technology-laden Nasdaq was hit by heavy losses for some software and data-storage stocks.
The traditional start to earnings season will come after markets close with the announcement of Alcoa Inc.’s (AA 12.37, +0.23, +1.89%) third-quarter results. The group is expected to post a profit of 7 cents a share.
Before that, PepsiCo (PEP 68.11, +0.35, +0.52%) is scheduled to announce its latest figures, with analysts on average expecting earnings of $1.21 a share.
The main U.S. data will be weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, while in Europe both the Bank of England and the European Central Bank will announce interest rate decisions.
The dollar was lower against other major currencies ahead of the jobless numbers and Friday’s closely watched nonfarm payroll figures.
The euro rose 0.4% to $1.39682 and the Australian dollar hit its highest level against the U.S. currency in more than two decades.
Against the yen, the greenback dropped 0.6% to ¥82.485, taking the dollar back below levels which caused Japanese authorities to intervene in currency markets last month.
The weak dollar helped gold futures set another new record, with the December contract trading as high as $1,366 an ounce. Crude-oil futures were modestly higher.
Among companies in focus, shares of Immucor Inc. (BLUD 20.44, +0.14, +0.69%) are likely to come under pressure after the biotech firm cut its outlook, citing weak industry demand.
In international markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225 Average closed down 0.1% and the German DAX 30 index (DX:DAX 6,279, +8.11, +0.13%) was also down 0.1% in intraday trading.
