Futures inch higher
Wall Street looks set for more gains on Thursday, supported by hopes for the partial stimulus deal after President Donald Trump reiterated to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi his desire to sign a standalone bill to send $1,200 stimulus checks to Americans hours after abruptly ending talks for a broader stimulus plan.
“If I am sent a Stand Alone Bill for Stimulus Checks ($1,200), they will go out to our great people IMMEDIATELY. I am ready to sign right now,” Trump said on Twitter late Wednesday.
However, Pelosi dismissed Trump’s proposal outright claiming that all he wants is “his name on a check.”
As of 5:50 a.m. ET, futures tied to the blue-chip Dow were indicated 86 points, or 0.31% higher to 28,265. The S&P 500 futures jumped 12.32 points, or 0.36% to 3,419.12 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 74.12 points, or 0.65% to 11,544.12.
Weekly jobless claims data in focus
Meanwhile, traders are waiting the U.S. Department of Labor to release weekly jobless claims data for the week ended October 3. The data, due to be published at 8:30 a.m. ET, is expected show applications for jobless benefits dropped to 825,000 last week, from 837,000 in the prior week.
Weekly jobless claims have clocked in at between 800,000 and 900,000 for more than a month, and remain above the pre-pandemic high of 695,000. Continuing claims are expected to fall to 11.4 million from 11.767 million during the prior week.
The claims data are important because they are weekly, and they reveal trends important to both consumer spending and business activity.
Regeneron soars after asking FDA for emergency clearance for COVID-19 therapy
Shares of Regeneron (NASDAQ: REGN) popped early Thursday after the company announced it has asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for an Emergency Use Authorization for its experimental Covid-19 antibody therapy.
The antibody was famously used to treat President Trump’s Covid-19 illness last week. On Wednesday, he claimed the antibody was a cure rather than a therapeutic measure and promised to provide hundreds of thousands of doses to Americans free of charge.
The biotechnology firm said it currently has doses available for roughly 50,000 patients, and intends to have doses available for 300,000 patients in the next few months.
As of writing, Regeneron stock was up $26.21, or 4.43% $617.90 a share in the pre-market trading session.
