U.S. inflation eases in July
U.S. stock futures were pointing to a flat open for Wall Street on Thursday after the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average extended their record highs in the previous session.
By 5:00 a.m. ET, futures for the Dow were indicated 40 points, or 0.11% higher to 35,412. Nasdaq 100 futures ticked down 12 points, or 0.08% to 15,007.50 while S&P 500 futures were flat.
The S&P 500 advanced 0.3% to 4,447 points on Wednesday, while the Dow rose 220 points, or 0.6%, to 35,484 after as data released by the U.S. Labor Department indicated inflation growth eased last month.
The department said the consumer price index (CPI) grew 0.5% in July following a rise of 0.9% in June, the biggest decline in month-to-month inflation in 15 months, easing fears about the possibility for runaway inflation.
Traders eyed jobless claims data
The Labor Department’s weekly initial jobless claims report is set to steal the limelight later today.
Economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal expect the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits in the week ended Aug. 7 dropped to a seasonally adjusted 375,000 from 385,000 in the prior week.
Last month, jobless claims averaged 392,000 a week, marginally lower than the June data.
While claims have ticked down since peaking in the spring of 2020, they are still elevated compared with pre-pandemic levels.
The Labor Department is scheduled to release the report at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Disney, Airbnb, DoorDash earnings on tap
Disney (NYSE: DIS), DoorDash (NYSE: DASH), and Airbnb (NASDAQ: ABNB) will release their quarterly financial results today afternoon.
Analysts expect Disney to report third-quarter earnings of 56 cents per share on revenue of $16.80 billion. In the same period last year, the entertainment giant had earnings of 8 cents per share.
DoorDash is projected to post a second-quarter loss of 6 cents per share on revenue of $1.1 billion.
Airbnb is seen posting a second-quarter loss of 48 cents per share on revenue of $1.23 billion.
Other earnings to watch today include Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU), iQIYI (NASDAQ: IQ), and ARKO (NASDAQ: ARKO)
