Wall Street Set For Cautious Open

(RTTNews) - Oil prices are surging in response to conflict in the Middle East and the U.S. Futures suggest that Wall Street might open lower on Thursday.

Iran has denied any talks of ceasefire and the death toll has came up above 1000.

The widening conflict had its impact beyond Iran and Israel. UAE air defenses intercepted six ballistic missiles and 131 drones, while Qatar was subjected to missile attacks and precautionary evacuvations near the U.S. Embassy in Doha was carried out. In Kuwaiti tankers were reportedly hit by large explosion. Amazon data centre in Bahrain was reported attacked by Iranian drones

In the Asian trading hours, gold prices were half a percent higher at $5,165 an ounce, as the dollar held steady. Oil prices jumped more than 3 percent.

As of 7.35 am ET, the Dow futures were losing 154.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were down 6.50 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were sliding 27.50 points.

The U.S. major averages ended Wednesday positive. The Nasdaq jumped 290.79 points or 1.3 percent to 22,807.48, the S&P 500 advanced 52.87 points or 0.8 percent to 6,869.50 and the Dow climbed 238.14 points or 0.5 percent to 48,739.41.

On the economic front, the Jobless Claims for the week will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 215K, while it was up 212K in the prior week.

The Productivity and Costs for the fourth quarter will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 1.9 percent, while it was up 4.9 percent in the prior quarter.

The Import and Export Prices for January will be published at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is up 0.1 percent, while it was up 0.1 percent in the prior month.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA's Natural Gas Report for the week will be revealed at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the gas stock was down 52 bcf.

Three-year and 10-year Treasury Note auction will be held at 11.00 am ET.

The 30-year Treasury Bond auction will be held at 11.00 am ET.

The Fed Balance Sheet for the week will be published at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the Level was $6.614 trillion.

Federal Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman will speak before virtual New York Bankers Association 'Navigating What's Next: Perspective on the Economy and Innovation' event at 1.15 pm ET.

Asian stocks advanced on Thursday. China's Shanghai Composite index rose 0.64 percent to 4,108.57. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended up 0.28 percent at 25,321.34.

Japanese markets bounced back. The Nikkei average jumped 1,032 points, or 1.90 percent, to 55,278.06. The broader Topix index also ended up 1.90 percent at 3,702.67.

Australian stocks eked out modest gains. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.44 percent to 8,940.30 while the broader All Ordinaries index closed 0.52 percent higher at 9,164.90.