U.S. stock benchmark futures on Thursday edged slightly higher as Wall Street awaited a final reading of gross domestic product for the fourth quarter, amid mounting signs of slowing global growth.
How are benchmarks faring?
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average YMM9, +0.02% gained 23 points, or less than 0.1%, to reach 25,682, those for the S&P 500 index ESM9, +0.00% added 2.25 points to 2,812.75, a gain of about 0.1%, while the Nasdaq-100 futures NQM9, +0.01% climbed 4.75 points, or less than 0.1%, at 7,338.
On Wednesday, the Dow DJIA, -0.13% dropped 32.14 points, 0.1%, to 25,625.59, while the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.46% fell 13.09 points, or 0.5%, to 2,805.37, with health care and energy sectors among the worst performers. The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -0.63% shed 48.15 points, or 0.6%, to 7,643.38.
What’s driving the market ?
Investors will be watching the final estimate of GDP growth in the last three months of 2018, which was initially estimated at a 2.6% annualized rate from the previous quarter, but expected to be dialed back slightly to 2.4%, according to average economists’ estimates polled by MarketWatch. The update is due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.
The GDP report follows heightened anxieties about sluggish growth in China and Europe that Wall Street investors fear has already begun to wash up on U.S. shores, reflected in falling yields of government debt, which fall as prices of Treasurys rise.
In the U.K., late-Wednesday Prime Minister Theresa May vowed to resign if her plan to usher Britain out of the European Union was approved by Parliament. However, lawmakers failed to find a majority on any given path for Brexit, in a series of indicative votes, adding to political uncertainty and beginning a tussle for the nation’s leadership.
An unruly Brexit process has held the potential to disrupt markets in Europe and domestically, market participants say.
Read: Brexit Brief: Britain’s parliament may revisit its inconclusive votes
On the U.S.-China trade front, Beijing officials have made unprecedented proposals to resolve a long-running tariff dispute with Washington, according to Reuters, which says that issues including ending charges that it systematically steals U.S. intellectual property.
That report comes as British officials accused Huawei Technologies Co. of failing to address security flaws in its products and said the company hasn’t demonstrated a commitment to fixing them
What are strategists saying?
“Washington brought a bit of peace on stocks overnight after U.S. officials said progress in all areas was being registered during the last round of trade talks with Beijing. China made more specific proposals towards tech transfers and with a wider scope than even before, a piece of news mostly welcomed by investors as intellectual property remains one of the key points of the negotiations,” wrote Pierre Veyret, technical analyst at ActivTrades, in a Thursday research note.
“The FTSE-100 index in London is the strongest performer in Europe so far today, after the British Parliament rejected all alternative Brexit options proposed by Prime Minister Theresa May,” he wrote.
What stocks were in focus?
Shares of ride-hailing company Lyft Inc. LYFT, +0.00% rose to an indicative range between $70-$72, with final pricing slated for later Thursday, ahead of the startups planned initial public offering on Friday.
What were other markets doing?
European equity markets were slightly higher, with the Stoxx 600 Europe index SXXP, +0.12% edging up about 0.2% on Thursday and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 UKX, +0.47% gaining 0.6%. China and Japanese stock markets closed lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, +0.16% rose 0.2%.
In commodities markets, crude-oil prices CLK9, -0.69% retreated, and gold prices GCJ9, -0.48% also edged in to negative territory, as the U.S. dollar DXY, +0.07% extended its recent uptrend.
Meanwhile, the closely watched benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield TMUBMUSD10Y, -0.19% was at 2.37%, hovering around a 15-month low. Bond prices and yields move in the opposite direction.
Providing critical information for the U.S. trading day. Subscribe to MarketWatch's free Need to Know newsletter. Sign up here.
