Stocks set to bounce back
U.S. stock futures point to a modestly higher open for Wall Street on Thursday, after the Dow lost 445 points in the previous session as the COVID-19 pandemic, manufacturing and retail sales data weighed down corporate earnings.
By 5:25 a.m. ET, the blue-chip Dow futures were up 61 points, or 0.26% to 23,452. S&P 500 futures rose 10 points, or 0.36% to 2,785 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a gain of 58.75 points, or 0.68% to 8,652.75.
Weekly jobless claims in focus
Meanwhile, market players will be closely watching key data on U.S. initial jobless claims for the week ended April 11 for clues on the depth of the coronavirus crisis. The Labor Department will publish the figures at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Economists polled by Reuters estimate a total of 5.105 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits in a surge for the fourth straight week, as the COVID-19 pandemic forced states to enact policies to shut nonessential businesses in a bid to slow its spread in the country.
Trump expected to announce federal guidelines on reopening the economy
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he would announce new federal guidelines for reopening the U.S. economy at a press briefing later today.
The president noted improvement and the positive effects of social distancing guidelines in coronavirus-stricken areas such as New York, Louisiana and Detroit. He also added that at least 29 states should be ready to ease social restrictions soon.
“These encouraging developments have put us in a very strong position to finalize guidelines for states on reopening the country, which we’ll be announcing,” Trump said. “We’re going to be talking about that tomorrow. It’s very exciting.”
Apple unveils a cheaper version of its iPhone SE
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has launched its long-awaited second-gen iPhone SE, a budget iPhone that starts at $399. The new SE has the same look and size as the iPhone 8, but has the same processing power as the iPhone 11.
In a virtual unveiling on Wednesday, Apple said the SE will start at $399 for 64GB of storage and move up in price to $449 for a version with 128GB of storage and $549 for 256GB of storage. It comes in black, white, and Product Red and will be available for preorder Friday, April 17.
As of this writing, Apple stock was up $3.75, or 1.32% to $288.18 a share in premarket trading session Thursday.
