MW: U.S. stocks: Investors cautious ahead of ECB, crop of U.S. data
LONDON (MarketWatch) — Stock futures inched up on Thursday, after a losing session for Wall Street, with investors eyeing a crop of data as they wait for nonfarm payrolls Friday.
Downbeat news on China’s economy and a meeting of the European Central Bank ahead are also in the mix. On the corporate front, deal news for AbbVie Inc. and Pharmacyclics Inc. could make those shares active.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJH5, +0.21% rose 31 points to 18,117. The same held true for S&P 500 index SPH5, +0.21% futures, up 3.6 points to 2,099.80, and those for the Nasdaq-100 NDH5, +0.17% up 7.75 points to 4,452.
U.S. stocks logged the second straight session of losses on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 SPX, -0.44% hitting its lowest level in two weeks. Among the disappointments was private-sector employment data, which is used by economists to get a feel for the bigger employment report, due Friday.
The Nasdaq Composite COMP, -0.26% also pulled back further from its psychological milestone of 5,000, which it hit Monday.
Read: The 3 things most likely to kill the bull market’s buzz
As well as nervousness ahead of nonfarm payrolls, global economic worries were back in the headlights for investors after China—viewed as the world’s growth engine—cut its economic growth forecast to around 7% this year.
Read: China lowers growth target
Draghi ahead: The ECB kept, which hasn’t changed rates in years, kept key interest rates unchanged on Thursday, as investors await more signs from a news conference from ECB President Mario Draghi set for 8:30 a.m. Eastern, which may offer more clues as to when the central bank will commence its trillion-euro quantitative-easing measures.
The euro EURUSD, -0.09% continued to hit fresh 11-year lows ahead of that meeting.
Read: 5 things to know about the ECB’s QE ahead of key meeting
Data is also on tap for U.S. investors. Weekly jobless claims is coming at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, with fourth-quarter productivity and unit labor costs coming at the same time. Factory orders for January are due at 10 a.m. Eastern.
San Francisco Federal Reserve President John Williams, who is a voting member, will speak on the economic outlook at the CFA Society of Hawaii at 11:15 p.m. Eastern.
Stocks to watch: AbbVie Inc. ABBV, -5.09% said it would buy cancer biotech Pharmacyclics Inc. PCYC, +9.99% in a $21 billion cash-and-stock deal. Shares of Pharmacyclics were up 9% in premarket trading. Shares of AbbVie were down nearly 5%.
Shares of Costco Wholesale Corp. COST, +1.45% rose around 2% after the retailer reported a quarterly profit that beat analysts expectations.
Specialty drugs company Mallinckrodt PLC MNK, +3.33% said it has agreed to buy privately-held critical care company Ikaria Inc. from an investor group led by private-equity firm Madison Dearborn, in a deal valued at about $2.3 billion. Shares of Mallinckrodt were up 3%.
Other markets: While stock futures flattened out, European stocks SXXP, +0.59% rose ahead of the ECB meeting and the euro slid.
The Hang Seng Index HSI, -1.11% fell 1.1%, the biggest daily drop in a month after China’s Premier Li Keqiang cut the country’s growth target and said “economic downward pressure is still intensifying.”
In other markets, oil prices CLJ5, +0.80% moved higher, and gold GCJ5, +0.12% was marginally lower.
