(As of 7:05 am PST)
Stock futures traded down
ahead of the open Thursday as investors sorted through mixed economic data
while charting their course ahead of next week’s FOMC policy meeting. Indexes
have turned around and now are trading modestly higher in the first hour of
trading. US trade data showed import and export prices falling sharply in
August due to the drop in oil prices and the strengthening of the US dollar.
Falling import prices (a sign of weak inflationary pressure) is something the
Fed is keeping its eye on as a part of its decision to raise interest rates. In
other economic news, jobless claims fell 6,000 last week to 275,000 – mostly in
line with expectations. Recently strong labor market data is being considered
heavily by the Fed and may lead to a rate hike next week. In corporate news,
shares of Apple recovered some of yesterday’s losses after the tech-giant
rolled out a new product line yesterday which included a business-designed iPad
Pro along with a new lineup of iPhones and an updated Apple TV. The product
display was not met with the kind of enthusiasm Apple is used to seeing with the
stock losing 1.9% on the day yesterday. In overseas action, Asian markets
finished mostly lower after a strong showing yesterday while European stocks
look poised to finish to the downside as well. Gold and oil prices are up
slightly today while interest rates are flat with the 10 yr. treasury yield
hovering around 2.20%.
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