Traders digest FOMC minutes
U.S. stock futures pointed to losses for Wall Street in what could be a wild session on Thursday, as traders continue to digest minutes of the Federal Reserve’s June 15-16 monetary policy meeting.
The minutes, which were released on Wednesday, showed that various Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) members expect conditions for beginning to scale down the pace of the central bank’s $120 billion bond-buying program to be “met somewhat earlier than they had anticipated at previous meetings.”
However, some members called for a “patient” approach to any policy change.
Overall, the committee members seemed to agree that they need to have a plan place in case of unforeseen economic developments, such as the emergence of risks that could hamper the attainment of its goals or faster-than-expected progress toward the goals of the committee.
As of 5:45 a.m. ET, futures tied to the blue chip Dow were indicated 377 points, or 1.09% lower to 34,191. S&P 500 futures dropped 44.63 points, or 1.03% to 4,305.12 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures gave away 156.25 points, or 1.06% to 14,646.
The three major U.S. stock averages finished in the green territory yesterday after the minutes were released — the Dow rose 0.3%, the S&P 500 0.34%, and the Nasdaq 0.0097%.
Jobless claims data on tap
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Labor will publish its weekly report on unemployment benefits ahead of the opening bell today.
The data, due to be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, is expected to show 350,000 jobless claims were filed in the week ended July 3 down from the 364,000 claims filed during the previous week.
Continuing claims, a proxy for the number of Americans receiving aid from week to week, are expected to fall to 3.335 million from 3.469 million the prior week.
Trump sues CEOs of Facebook, Google, and Twitter for banning him on their platforms
In other news, former President Donald Trump has brought class action lawsuits against Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) CEO Jack Dorsey and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) CEO Sundar Pichai for blocking him on their respective social media platforms.
In the lawsuits, which were filed on Wednesday, Trump is seeking immediate injunctive relief to allow the prompt restoration of his social media accounts.
He also said he is asking the court to impose “punitive damages” on the three social media companies for suspending his accounts in the wake of the Jan. 6 riots on Capitol Hill.
States sue Google over Play Store fees
Separately, 37 U.S. state and district attorneys general have sued Google over its Play Store service, accusing the search and advertising giant of illegally abusing its power over developers using the store, according to Bloomberg.
The lawsuit, filed in California federal court Wednesday, claims that Google uses “monopolistic leverage” to make huge profits from purchases made within the store.
The states challenge the company’s policy forcing Google Play app developers to pay a commission of 30% on app purchases. They also claim that the Alphabet unit “bought off” its competitors.
Shares of Alphabet were marked 1.33% lower to $2,567 apiece in pre-market trading Thursday.
