US pre-open: Stocks set for flat open as enthusiasm over OPEC fades

US futures pointed to a steady open on Wall Street as enthusiasm over OPEC’s deal to cut production wore off.

At 1100 BST, Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were all flat.

CMC Markets’ Jasper Lawyer said: “Stocks in the US look set to open unchanged from yesterday’s closing prices. Shares of oil majors Exxon and Chevron are expected to be in focus after big gains following OPEC’s decision to cut output."

At the OPEC meeting in Algiers, ministers agreed to cut production to between 32.5m and 33m barrels a day, down from August output levels of about 33.5m barrels, with further details of the agreement due to be discussed at the next meeting on 30 November.

Oil prices initially surged on the news, but by Thursday morning they were steady and it appeared some scepticism had begun to creep in as investors turned their attention to the details of the OPEC deal.

West Texas Intermediate was down 0.6% at $46.79 a barrel and Brent crude was off 0.9% at $48.26.

Lawler said: “After a 6% surge yesterday, it’s understandable to see some profit-taking in oil markets as a little scepticism creeps in over the workability of the deal. Cutting output by 700m barrels a day is all well and good, but how that cut is going to be divided up across the producing nations is where consensus could quickly unravel.”

In corporate news, PepsiCo and ConAgra were slated to report earnings before the open with results from Costco due after the close.

Progress Software fell sharply in pre-market trade after its third-quarter sales and earnings released late on Wednesday missed analysts’ expectations.

On the upside, Pier 1 was higher after it reported a second-quarter loss that wasn’t as bad as analysts had expected.

Meanwhile, investors were digesting comments from Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker, who spoke at the Global Independence Center event in Dublin.

Harker said it was time for other policy areas to do their bit to encourage growth as the Fed has already played a large part.

"The American economy has reached a point where monetary policy has done what it can," he said.

"As everyone in this room knows, the reach and arsenal of monetary policymakers is limited... Addressing issues of unemployment from the decline in American manufacturing requires fiscal policy and legislative action."

There is no shortage of Fed speak on Thursday, as Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart is due to speak at the 2016 Future of Florida forum in Orlanda and Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Power due to make a speech at the St Louis Fed community banking research conference.

In addition, Fed Chair Janet Yellen will be taking part in a video conference for the Kansas City Fed.

On the data front, investors will eye the final release of second-quarter US GDP, initial jobless claims, and wholesale inventories at 1330 BST, while pending home sales are at 1500 BST.