US pre-open: Stocks to nudge up ahead of retail sales; Walt Disney announces 21st Century deal
Updated : 12:25
US futures pointed to a marginally firmer open on Wall Street on Thursday as investors eyed the release of key retail sales data.
At 1215 GMT, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 0.1%, with the Dow on course to cross 24,650 for the first time, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were also 0.1% higher.
On Wednesday, the Fed hiked rates by 25 basis points to between 1.25% and 1.50%, as expected, marking the third increase this year. In addition, policymakers also stuck by their projections for three more interest rate hikes in 2018, as they bumped up their forecast for GDP growth next year, to 2.5%, on the expected passage of Republicans' tax cut plans.
Konstantinos Anthis at ADS Securities, said: "Yellen's remarks didn't affect expectations for more or fewer rate hikes next year but traders realised that any changes towards a more optimistic outlook will have to wait at least until we hear from Jerome Powell. This will be towards the end of Q1 2018 and dollar's outlook will still hang in the balance until then hence the sharp sell-off in the currency as traders looked to limit their exposure on the greenback.
"The US retail sales report is pending for release today but given the nervousness among investors regarding the dollar we don't think the report will have any effect on the price action."
On the economic calendar, retail sales and initial jobless claims are at 1330 GMT, while Markit's services and manufacturing PMIs are at 1445 GMT and business inventories are at 1500 GMT.
Across the pond, the Bank of England voted unanimously to hold rates at 0.5% after its first rate hike in 10 years last month.
Meanwhile, the European Central Bank was due to make its policy announcement at 1245 GMT, with no change expected there either.
On the US corporate front, M&A was in focus as Walt Disney announced the acquisition of 21st Century Fox's entertainment assets in a deal valued at $52.4bn.
Elsewhere, flash storage company Tintri Inc could be in focus after its third-quarter earnings on Wednesday.