Wall Street Might Open Broadly Lower

(RTTNews) - Supply concerns due to the restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz and attack on Saudi Arabia continues on Thursday also.

Early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open broadly down.

Oil prices were sharply lower. Brent crude futures fell nearly 2 percent below $104 a barrel. WTI crude futures were down 0.2 percent at $94.94 a barrel.

Gold prices rebounded. Spot gold climbed 1.3 percent to $4,157.85 an ounce while U.S. gold futures were up 1.7 percent at $4,176.

As of 7.55 am ET, the Dow futures were adding 102.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were down 25.50 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were declining 365.25 points.

The U.S. major averages ended in the red on Wednesday. The Nasdaq tumbled 511.51 points or 1.9 percent to 26,692.87 and the S&P 500 slumped 86.51 points or 1.1 percent to 7,7718.94.

On the economic front, the Jobless Claims for the week will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus for initial claims is 200K, while it was up 197K in the prior week.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics' Producer Price Index or PPI for September will be revealed at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 0.5 percent, while it was up 0.4 percent in the prior month.

The Commerce Department's Retail Sales for September will be published at 8.30 am ET. The consensus for growth of 0.3 percent, while it was up 1.2 percent in the prior month.

The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index for October will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 30.00, while it was up 37.8 in September.

The Empire State Manufacturing Index for October is expected at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 10.3, while it was up 7.6 in the prior month.

The Commerce Department's Business Inventories for August will be issued at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 0.4 percent, while it was up 0.8 percent in the prior month.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA's Natural Gas Report for the week will be released at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the gas stock was 85 bcf. The Petroleum status will be published at 12.00 pm ET. In the prior week, the crude oil inventories were down 3.2 million barrels and the gasoline inventories were up 0.4 million barrels.

The Fed Balance sheet will be revealed at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the Level was at $6.748 trillion.

Asian stocks retreated on Thursday. China's Shanghai Composite index tumbled 1.59 percent to 3,707.48. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 1.03 percent to 24,062.72.

Japanese markets plummeted. The Nikkei average slumped 4.90 percent to 64,425.95 while the broader Topix index settled 2.38 percent lower at 3,999.34.

Australian stocks ended lower. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 finished marginally down at 8,719.70 while the broader All Ordinaries index slipped 0.32 percent to 8,840.40.