BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The Labor Department's Consumer Price
Inflation Report might be the highlight on Thursday.

Early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open
lower.

As of 8.10 am ET, the Dow futures were declining 83.00 points, the S&P 500
futures were down 10.00 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were falling 25.50
points.

The major averages finished higher on Wednesday. The Nasdaq surged 218.16 points
or 1.2 percent to 18,647.45, the Dow shot up 429.39 points or 1.1 percent to
39,721.36 and the S&P 500 jumped 56.93 points or 1.0 percent to 5,633.91.

On the economic front, the Consumer Price Index or CPI for June will be released
at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 0.1 percent, while it was at
0.0 percent in May.

The Jobless Claims for the week is scheduled at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is
239K, while it was up 238K in the prior week.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA's Natural Gas Report for the week
is expected at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the gas stock was up 32 bcf.

Ten-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities or TIPS will be published at
11.00 pm ET.

The Fed balance sheet is expected at 4.30 pm ET.

Asian stocks hit record highs on Thursday. Chinese shares rallied. The benchmark
Shanghai Composite Index jumped 1.1 percent to 2,970.39.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged 2.1 percent to 17,832.33.

Japanese markets reached new highs. The Nikkei 225 Index advanced 0.9 percent to
42,224.02, breaking past 42,000 for the first time ever. The broader Topix Index
settled 0.7 percent higher at 2,929.17.

Australian markets hit a two-month high. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index rose
0.9 percent to 7,889.60, while the broader All Ordinaries Index added 0.9
percent to finish at 8,133.40.



Copyright(c) 2024 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved

Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX