US pre-open: Stocks to nudge lower as focus shifts to Yellen

US futures pointed to a marginally weaker open on Wall Street, with investors likely to exercise caution as they look for clues on the timing of an interest rate hike from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, who is due to give a speech at Jackson Hole on Friday.

At 1055 BST, Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were all down 0.1%.

At the same time, oil prices edged higher. West Texas Intermediate was up 0.6% to $47.03 a barrel while Brent crude was up 0.4% to $49.27.

Jasper Lawler, market analyst at CMC Markets, said: “US stocks look set for a lower open on Thursday ahead of durable goods and service sector data and earnings from discount stores Dollar General and Dollar Tree as well as Tiffany.

“Hilary Clinton’s attack on the price gauging of an allergy medicine is expected to continue to weigh on the healthcare sector. Biotechs especially, including the likes of Amgen, Biogen and Celgene can be expected to remain under pressure. Her statements reaffirm a fear in the industry that a Clinton presidency would see a serious crackdown on pharmaceutical price gauging.”

Traders were expected to take some money off the table ahead of Yellen’s speech.

Naeem Aslam at Think Markets said: “Investors are eagerly awaiting the speech from Federal Reserve Chairwoman, Janet Yellen. Volume is extremely low in the market and hence why we are not seeing much activity. It is not that traders do not want to trade, it is this that they do not want to place any large bets ahead of the news. If her speech is boring, then perhaps consolidation could be the reaction in the coming days.

“If she fails to deliver a clear message or remains a little dovish, the equity market may respond well and there is a higher probability that we could see a few more record highs. But whether or not the volume would be supportive of that move is a different question altogether.”

In corporate news, Workday shares surged in pre-market trade after the software company’s second-quarter earnings released late on Wednesday beat expectations.

Guess was also sharply higher after rocketing after-hours on Wednesday following its second-quarter numbers.

On the downside, HP Inc slid as its fourth-quarter profit fell short of analysts’ views and the company’s earnings forecast disappointed.

Tiffany & Co, Dollar Tree and Medtronic were all slated to report earnings before the opening bell.

On the data calendar, durable goods orders and initial jobless claims are at 1330 BST, while Markit’s services purchasing managers’ index is at 1445 BST.