U.S. equity futures were trading higher Thursday morning after the Federal Reserve said it would accelerate its pullback of economic stimulus.
The major futures indexes suggested a gain of 0.6% when trading begins on Wall Street.
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The Fed said it would likely raise interest rates three times next year to tackle rising inflation and will shrink its monthly bond purchases at twice the pace it previously announced, in line with ending them altogether in March.
Major U.S. stock indexes gained momentum toward the end of the day. The S&P 500 rose 1.6% to 4,709.85, nearly recouping all of its losses for the week and ending just below the record high it set last Friday.
Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
---|---|---|---|---|
I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 35927.43 | +383.25 | +1.08% |
SP500 | S&P 500 | 4709.85 | +75.76 | +1.63% |
I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 15565.582968 | +327.94 | +2.15% |
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1% to 35,927.43 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite gained 2.2% to 15,565.58.
Another very busy morning for economic data coming up.
The Labor Department is out with its tally of new claims for unemployment benefits for last week. Expectations are for 200,000, up 16,000 from the previous week’s tally of 184,000 which was the lowest in 52 years. Continuing claims, which track the total number of unemployed workers collecting benefits, are anticipated to slip by 56,000 to 1.936 million, which would mark a pandemic low.
MILLENNIALS ARE SUPERCHARGING THE HOUSING MARKET
The Commerce Department was expected to say that the number of new homes under construction in November jumped 3.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.568 million. That’s after unexpectedly falling 0.7% in October on labor and materials shortages.
The Philadelphia Federal Reserve will release its index of manufacturing activity for eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and Delaware. It’s expected to fall 9 points this month to 30.0. Any reading above zero means that more manufacturers say business conditions are improving.
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The Federal Reserve will release industrial production data for November. Factory output is expected to increase 0.7% for the month.
In Europe, London’s FTSE gained 0.9%, Germany’s DAX added 1.5% and France’s CAC rose 1%.
The Bank of England and the European Central Bank will announce policy decisions.
In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index rose 2.1%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng clawed back from early losses, gaining 0.2% and China’s Shanghai Composite index added 0.8%.
RETAIL SALES PULL BACK WITH MODEST INCREASE AS INFLATION HITS CONSUMER SPENDING
Retailers and other companies that rely on consumer spending recovered from an early slide. The sector sank after the Commerce Department said sales rose a modest 0.3% in November, but fell short of economists’ forecasts amid concerns that rising costs could crimp consumer spending.
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In other trading Thursday, U.S. crude oil climbed 62 cents to $71.68 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained 14 cents to $70.87 per barrel on Wednesday.
Brent crude, the international basis for pricing, picked up 78 cents to $74.66 per barrel.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Read More: Stock futures higher after Fed accelerates stimulus pullback