Jackson Hole gathering eyed
U.S. stock futures were little changed on Thursday morning as market players await the start of a key meeting of prominent central bankers at Jackson Hole, WY. later today.
The meeting, which will be held as a virtual event because of the pandemic, is likely to have implications for an array of financial instruments, from stocks and crude prices to bonds.
Markets will be closely watching Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at the symposium on Friday, for cues on the central bank’s tapering plans.
As of 5:50 a.m. ET, futures for the blue-chip Dow and those for the S&P 500 were unchanged. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 were down 36.50 points, or 0.24% to 15,327.75.
GDP, Jobless claims data on tap
On the economic data front, the U.S. Labor Department is scheduled to print its weekly report on initial unemployment claims ahead of the opening bell today.
Economists expect jobless claims for the week to Aug. 21 to come in at 350,000, up from 348,000 during the prior week.
The report, which is due at 8:30 a.m. ET, is also expected to show continuing claims for the week to Aug. 14 dropped to 2.764 million from 2.820 million a week earlier.
Traders are also awaiting the release of the U.S. second-quarter gross domestic product GDP reading ahead of the market open. The GDP report is expected to show the economy improved by 6.7% during the second quarter from 6.5% annualized growth reported initially.
Salesforce jumps on upbeat Q2 earnings and full-year guidance
Meanwhile, Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) advanced in Thursday premarket trading after the cloud-based customer-relationship management firm reported second-quarter earnings that topped expectations and provided upbeat full-year guidance.
Salesforce said late Wednesday net income totaled $535 million, or 56 cents per share, down from $2.63 billion, or $2.85 per share, last year. Adjusted earnings of $1.48 per share blew past analyst estimates of 92 cents.
Revenue of $6.34 billion was up from $5.15 billion last year and ahead of the $6.23 billion analysts had projected.
The company expects fiscal 2022 adjusted earnings growth in the range of $4.36 to $4.38 a share and revenue of between $26.2 billion to $26.3 billion.
At the time of writing, Salesforce stock was up $7.20, or 2.76% to $268.05 per share.