Wall Street Rally To Continue

Initial jobless claims and pending home sales might be the focus on Thursday. The revised reading on first-quarter GDP also might get special attention.

Initials signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open higher.

As of 7.45 am ET, the Dow futures were up 226.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 28.50 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 54.00 points.

The U.S. major averages all closed in positive territory on Wednesday. The Nasdaq surged 170.29 points or 1.5 percent to 11,434.74, the S&P 500 jumped 37.25 points or 1 percent to 3,978.73 and the Dow climbed 191.66 points or 0.6 percent to 32,120.28.

On the economic front, the Gross Domestic Product for the first quarter will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for a decline of 13 percent, while it was down 1.4 percent in the prior quarter.

The Labor Department’s Jobless Claims for the week will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 208K, while it was up 218K in the prior week.

The Corporate profits for the first quarter is scheduled at 8.30 am ET. In the prior quarter, the after-tax profits were up 24.8 percent.

National Association of Realtors’ Pending Home Sales Index for April will be issued at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for a decline of 1.5 percent, while it was down 1.2 percent in the prior month.

Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index for May will be revealed at 11.00 am ET. The consensus is 32, while it was 25 in the prior month.

Seven-year Treasury Note Auction will be held at 1.00 pm ET.

The Fed Balance Sheet for the week is expected at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the level was at $8.946 trillion.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA’s Natural Gas Report for the week is scheduled at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the gas stock was 89 bcf.

Asian stocks finished lower on Thursday. China’s Shanghai Composite index rose half a percent to 3,123.11. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 0.27 percent to 20,116.20.

Japanese shares were down on the day with the Nikkei average ending down 0.27 percent at 26,604.84.

Australian markets fell notably. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.69 percent to 7,105.90 while the broader All Ordinaries index ended 0.71 percent lower at 7,339.30.

European shares are trading mostly higher. CAC 40 of France is adding 46.75 points or 0.74 percent. DAX of Germany is gaining 91.35 110.97 points or 0.79 percent. FTSE 100 of England is declining 2.10 points or 0.03 percent. Swiss Market Index is up 39.13 points or 0.34 percent.

Euro Stoxx 50 that provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is up 0.69 percent.

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