By Peter Nurse
Investing.com -- U.S. stocks are seen opening lower Thursday, as investors consolidate ahead of a spate of economic data releases, headed by the weekly jobless claims numbers.
At 7:05 AM ET (1205 GMT), the Dow futures contract was down 215 points, or 0.6%, S&P 500 futures traded 30 points, or 0.7%, lower, and Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 120 points, or 0.9%.
The major indices all closed marginally higher Wednesday, near record highs, but worries that a stronger-than-expected economic rebound will result in higher inflation and thus sooner-than-expected monetary policy tightening have deprived the asset class of a lot of its momentum.
Investors will focus on Thursday’s packed data slate for fresh clues on the pace of recovery in the world's largest economy, and thus Federal Reserve thinking,.
First off the blocks is the ADP jobs number, at 8:15 AM ET, which is expected to say the economy added 650,000 private sector jobs in May, a slight slowdown from the 742,000 which were added in April.
The weekly initial jobless claims data follows 15 minutes later, with expectations calling for a number of 390,000 claims for the week ending May 28, an improvement from the 406,000 the previous week and a new post-pandemic low.
Also due for release is the May ISM non-manufacturing PMI, at 10 AM ET, which is expected to show renewed confidence in the vital services sector, especially after the equivalent numbers in Europe impressed earlier in the day.
In the corporate sector, AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) will remain in focus, with the meme stock favorite rallying 20% in the premarket, a day after shares doubled in a single session.
Other Reddit favorites, like BlackBerry (NYSE:BB) and Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ:BBBY), are also set to push higher as retail inventors act together to bid up shares of heavily-shorted companies, forcing short sellers to unwind their bets at a loss.
The earnings calendar Thursday includes the likes of online office tool DocuSign (NASDAQ:DOCU), group messaging app Slack Technologies (NYSE:WORK), leisure wear retailer Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) and chipmaker Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO).
Crude oil prices edged lower Thursday, as traders banked some of the recent gains ahead of the latest official U.S. supply data.
By 6:30 AM ET, U.S. crude was down 0.3% at $68.62 a barrel, after earlier climbing to its highest level since October 2018. Brent was down 0.3% at $71.17, after closing above $70 for two consecutive days for the first time in more than two years.
Confidence is high that crude demand will surge in the second half of the year, led by resurgent demand in the United States, the world's biggest oil user, from vehicle consumption during the driving season.
U.S. crude oil supply data from the American Petroleum Institute, released late Wednesday, showed a draw of 5.360 million barrels for last week, a substantial increase from the 439,000-barrel draw recorded during the previous week.
Investors now await crude oil supply data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, due at 11 AM ET.