Weekly jobless claims data in focus
U.S. stock futures hovered along the flatline early Thursday as traders awaited weekly jobless claims data that is expected to show another 1.423 million claims were filed in the week ended August 1. That would bring the total filings since late March to more than 55 million.
Weekly unemployment claims have proved a key retrospective gauge for traders tracking the health of the coronavirus-stricken U.S. economy, with last week’s 1.434 million initial claims.
Continuing claims are seen dropping to 6.72 million from 17.02 million in the previous week.
By 5:55 a.m. ET, futures for the blue-chip Dow advanced 55:5 points, or 0.21% to 27,110.5. Futures tied to the S&P 500 were up 2.88 points to 3,318.88, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.87 points to 11,088.88.
Uber, Dropbox, Zillow, and Viacom earnings on tap
Traders are also eyeing before-the-bell earnings which includes Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY), ViacomCBS (NASDAQ: VIAC), Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH), and Papa John’s (NASDAQ: PZZA).
Analysts expect Bristol-Myers to post earnings of $1.48 per share and revenue of $9.97 billion. Papa John’s is seen reporting earnings of 45 cents per share on revenue of $468.16 million
Uber (NYSE:UBER), Dropbox (NASDAQ: DBX), Zillow (NASDAQ: ZG), and T-Mobile US (NASDAQ: TMUS) are all scheduled to announce their financial results after the market close
Wall Street expects Uber to report a loss of 86 cents per share on revenue of $2.18 billion.
Dropbox is forecast to announce earnings of 17 cents per share on revenue of $465.29 million, while Zillow is projected to have lost 48 cents per share on revenue of $619.42 million in the latest quarter.
Coronavirus stimulus talks eyed
Meanwhile, top White House officials and Democrats are scheduled to continue talks over a new coronavirus relief package with both sides aiming for a deal by the end of the week. The two sides appeared to be growing increasingly pessimistic that they could agree on a package when they met on Wednesday.
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told reporters that President Donald Trump was ready to use executive powers to extend some measures like supplemental unemployment insurance.
On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he is prepared to support the deal Democrats and the White House strike, even if he is not contented with certain parts of it.
McConnell also said the Senate will remain in session next week and at least push back its planned August recess. The House has already delayed its recess until Congress passes a relief bill.
The U.S. had 4.8 million recorded cases of virus and 157,690 deaths on Wednesday, according to data compiled by John Hopkins University.