Wall St futures point to a positive open
U.S. stock futures were pointing to a slightly positive for Wall Street on Thursday after the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index officially fell into correction territory during the previous session.
As of 5:00 a.m. ET, futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were marked 116 points, or 0.33% to 35,026. S&P 500 futures gained 18.25 points, or 0.4% to 4,542.5 while Nasdaq 100 futures added 96.5 points, or 0.64% to 15,130.
On Wednesday, the Dow shed 339.82 points, or 0.96% to 35,028.65 while the S&P 500 lost 0.97% to end at 4,532.76.
The Nasdaq composite slumped 1.15% to finish at 14,340.26, putting it down 10.7% below its Nov. 19 all-time high, and officially slipping into correction territory.
Netflix earnings & jobless claims data on tap
Turning to corporate earnings, Netflix is in focus today as the streaming giant prepares to release its fourth-quarter results after the closing bell.
Analysts expect Netflix to post earnings of 82 cents per share on revenue of $7.71 billion. The market will also be watching closely to see how many subscribers the company added during the quarter.
Other notable companies reporting today include American Airlines Group (NASDAQ: AAL), Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP), Baker Hughes (NASDAQ: BKR), and CSX (NASDAQ: CSX).
On the economic data front, the U.S. Labor Department will release its weekly report on initial jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists expect another 225,000 claims were filed in the week ended Jan. 15, down from 230,000 reported the prior week.
China cuts rates to prop up the economy
Elsewhere, China has trimmed mortgage lending benchmark rates as monetary authorities ramp up efforts to stimulate economic growth.
The People’s Bank of China announced a cut to the one-year and five-year loan prime rates on Monday after data published earlier this week showed further weakening in the country’s property sector.
The bank reduced the one-year loan prime rate by 10 basis points from 3.80% to 3.70%. The five-year loan prime rate was lowered by 5 basis points from 4.65% to 4.60%, the first time the rate has been slashed since April 2022.
Major stock indexes across Asia rose following the cut. Japan’s Nikkei jumped 1.1% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 3.42%.
