Stock markets expected to open higher as traders brace for ECB decision

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Wall Street

Eyes on ECB

U.S. stock futures inched up early Thursday, implying Wall Street would open with gains, ahead of a European Central Bank decision due this morning.

Economists widely expect the ECB to announce that it will hike interest rates in July and end its large-scale asset purchase program as eurozone nations grapple with record-high inflation.

The central bank will announce its policy decision at 7:45 a.m. ET, and President Christine Lagarde will hold a press conference 45 minutes later.

At 5 a.m. ET, Dow futures gained 100 points, or 0.3% to 32,989. S&P 500 futures added 14.75 points, or 0.36% to 4,128.75 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures added 51.75 points, or 0.41% to 12,667.50.

Twitter reportedly agrees to give Elon Musk access to spam accounts data

Twitter (TWTR) reportedly plans to give in to Elon Musk’s demands for data on spam/fake accounts, just days after he threatened to walk away from purchase of the social media company.

The Washington Post said in a report on Wednesday that Twitter’s board of directors will allow Musk to access the massive data stream consisting of more than 500 million daily tweets.

The news outlet, citing a person familiar with Twitter’s thinking, said the information could be provided as soon as this week.

Earlier this week, Musk accused Twitter of “thwarting” his requests to learn more about its spam and fake accounts.

In April, the Tesla CEO reached an agreement with Twitter to take the company private for $44 billion, or $54.20 a share.

Jobless claims data on tap

Meanwhile, the U.S. Labor Department is scheduled to release data on initial jobless claims for the latest week at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Expectations are for jobless claims to have jumped to 210,000 for the July 4 week, up from 200,000 in the previous week.

Continuing claims, a measure of the total number of workers receiving unemployment benefits, are forecast to fall to 1.305 million.

The data come ahead of the May consumer price index due on Friday, and a key meeting of the Federal Reserve next week.

 

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