MW: U.S. stock futures point to further gains as oil rallies
Wall Street stocks were set for another day in positive territory on Thursday, with a continued rally in oil prices and a slumping dollar helping to fuel an upbeat investment mood.
Later in the day, weekly jobless claims and factory orders, among other data releases, will be closely watched ahead of the highly anticipated U.S. nonfarm-payrolls report on Friday.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average YMH6, +0.30% jumped 78 points, or 0.5%, to 16,341, while those for the S&P 500 index ESH6, +0.25% gained 8.50 points, or 0.5%, to 1,917. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index NQH6, +0.29% climbed 21.50 points, or 0.5%, to 4,193.
The gains come after a roller-coaster session on Wednesday ended with a late-stage rally as a big jump in oil prices lifted the energy and materials sector. Oil prices were partly boosted by a sharp decline in the dollar after a disappointing reading on the U.S. services sector was seen as putting a Federal Reserve rate increase on hold. The S&P 500 SPX, +0.50% closed up 0.5% and the Dow industrials DJIA, +1.13% gained 183 points, or 1.1%.
Both factors — a weak greenback and rising oil prices — were also prevalent on Thursday, providing a lift to stock futures. A strong dollar has been a major concern for future U.S. earnings growth as it hits exporters. On top of the weak data, New York Fed President William Dudley hinted that tighter financial conditions could prompt the central bank to delay its next interest-rate hike.
The ICE dollar index DXY, -0.68% lost 0.4% to 96.880 on Thursday, setting it on track for its lowest close since October.
This also fueled a rally in oil prices, with West Texas Intermediate crude CLH6, +0.59% rising 1.2% to $32.67 a barrel and Brent oil LCOJ6, -0.17% climbing 0.9% to $35.35 a barrel.First up is weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time, which are forecast to show 280,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week. That compares with 278,000 in the week before.
Fourth-quarter productivity numbers and unit-labor costs are also out at 8:30 a.m. and are expected to show a diverging trend. Productivity is projected to have dropped 2.1% last quarter, while unit-labor costs are forecast to have jumped 4.5%.
At 10 a.m. factory orders for December are due.
Check out MarketWatch’s economic calendar
Among Fed speakers, Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan will discuss the global economic outlook in Dallas at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. Kaplan is not a voting member of the policy-setting committee this year.
Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester, who is a voter, gives a speech on the economic outlook and monetary policy in New York at 5 p.m. Eastern.
Earlier on Thursday, Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said at a speech in South Africa that progress has been made on reducing the threats from too-big-to-fail financial firms.
Movers and shakers: Shares of GoPro Inc. GPRO, -11.95% slumped 9% premarket after the action-camera company late Wednesday posted a loss in the fourth quarter and provided a forecast that fell short of Wall Street expectations.
Cisco Systems Inc. CSCO, +1.18% could also be active after the tech company late Wednesday said it intends to acquire Silicon Valley Internet of Things startup Jasper Technologies Inc. for $1.4 billion in cash.
Ahead of the open on Thursday, Boston Scientific Corp. BSX, -0.62% Madison Square Garden Co. MSG, +0.25% Philip Morris International Inc. PM, +0.49% ConocoPhillips COP, +5.58% and Ralph Lauren Corp. RL, +3.40% are all slated to report.
U.S.-listed shares of Royal Dutch Shell PLC RDS.B, +3.73% were up 4.9%, although the oil major posted a nearly 60% slide in fourth-quarter profit
Other markets: European markets SXXP, +0.27% were higher, but investors kept an eye on strengthening in the euro EURUSD, +0.6304% .
Markets closed mainly higher in Asia, although Japan’s Nikkei 225 NIK, -0.85% lost 0.9%.
Most metals rose, with gold GCJ6, +0.51% up 0.5% at $1,146.50.
