Declining U.S. currency, high-priced commodity may lead to initial Thursday selloff.
March 18, 2004: 6:19 AM EST
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The dollar's renewed weakness and the continued high price of oil futures could set a negative tone for U.S. markets when trading begins Thursday.
Early Thursday, futures pointed to a lower start for the major indexes, after Wednesday's solid gains.
The dollar tumbled against the yen amid talk that the Bank of Japan will no longer intervene to prop the U.S. currency, although Japanese officials say they will continue to buy dollars when they deem it necessary. The dollar was also lower, though not as sharply, versus the euro.
As for oil futures, they were modestly lower but remained close to the 13-month highs set Wednesday. And there was little hope for a sharp pullback as OPEC's chief said he expects the cartel to go ahead with a planned production cut next month.
Brent crude pulled back 39 cents to $33.14 a barrel in London.
The long awaited January wholesale inflation report and the weekly report on initial unemployment filings are among the economic reports investors will consider in Thursday's trading session.
For details of Wednesday's advance, click above
The January PPI was delayed for more than a month as the Bureau of Labor Statistics fiddled with the industry classifications it used in the report. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expect to see a 0.4 percent gain, compared with a 0.3 percent rise in December; excluding food and energy, producer prices are seen rising 0.1 percent.
Also due Thursday before the bell is the weekly jobless claims report, which is seen rising to 345,000 in the week ended March 13 from 341,000 a year earlier.
After the markets open, the Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators for February is expected to show a 0.1 percent increase, compared with a 0.5 percent rise in January.
Then, at midday, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's regional index of economic activity for March is forecast to decline to 30 from 31.4 in February.
It was a second straight day of gains for the major indexes, as investors cheered some positive earnings reports and an upgrade of Internet portal Yahoo! The Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.1 percent, while the Nasdaq composite index gained 1.7 percent (see chart for details).
Asian-Pacific stocks gained ground Thursday, with Tokyo's Nikkei index up 0.4 percent. European markets were hurt by Bayer's disappointing results in the early going. (Check the latest on world markets)
Among U.S. stocks trading in Europe, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ: Research, Estimates) edged lower. Shareholders of the computer products company voted Wednesday to support expensing the value of stock options.
Treasury prices gained ground in early trading, sending the 10-year note yield down to 3.69 percent from 3.70 percent late Wednesday. Gold advanced.
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