At opening, futures contracts on major indices of the New York Stock Exchange are trending higher on Thursday. Investors are closely monitoring the situation in the Middle East while preparing for a new round of corporate results and economic indicators.
Around 12:50, the Dow Jones futures contract was up 0.5% at 49,249 points, while the S&P 500 contract rose 0.1% to 7,176 points. The Nasdaq 100 contract, known for its tech stocks, increased by 0.2% to 27,386 points.
In the midst of the ongoing uncertainty in the Middle East, oil prices remain well above the $100 per barrel mark. Midday, the June contract for sweet light crude oil (WTI) traded at $107 per barrel on the Nymex, which is expected to fuel future inflationary pressures.
On Wednesday evening, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell stated that the peak energy prices had not yet been reached in response to the surge in oil prices. He also warned that developments in the Middle East could limit the Fed’s ability to lower interest rates. The Fed kept its policy unchanged on Wednesday and expressed divided opinions on future actions.
Investors will be closely watching a series of economic indicators on Thursday, including the March PCE index and the first-quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the United States.
Additionally, the earnings season continues on Thursday with companies such as Caterpillar, Mastercard, and Merck Sharp and Dohme releasing their financial reports. Market participants will also react to the earnings reports of Amazon, Alphabet, and Microsoft, which were published on Wednesday.
In the foreign exchange market, the DXY index, which measures the value of the dollar against a basket of currencies, dropped by 0.5% to 98.46 points.
UPCOMING EVENTS: – 2:30 PM: PCE index, household income and spending for March – 2:30 PM: first estimate of first-quarter GDP – 2:30 PM: weekly jobless claims – After Wall Street: Apple’s quarterly results
Agefi-Dow Jones The financial newswire
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