U.S. Stock Futures Fall Ahead of GDP Data
DOW JONES & COMPANY, INC. 8:25 AM ET 10/30/14
Symbol Last Price Change
V 214.66 0 (0%)
QUOTES AS OF 04:00:26 PM ET 10/29/2014
U.S. stock futures fell Thursday ahead of a reading on third-quarter economic growth.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures declined 61 points, or 0.4%, to 16863. S&P 500 futures fell eight points, or 0.4%, to 1964 and Nasdaq-100 futures lost 19 points, or 0.5%, to 4053. Changes in stock futures don't always accurately predict stock moves after the opening bell.
Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of goods and services produced across the economy, is expected to rise 3.1% in the third quarter, according to economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal. In other economic news, jobless claims in the most recent week are expected to rise to 285,000.
The reading on U.S. growth comes a day after the Federal Reserve announced the end of its bond-buying program and brightened its economic outlook, causing some jitters about when the central bank could begin to raise short-term interest rates. Still, the Fed maintained its pledge to keep rates low for a considerable time.
Stocks ended lower Wednesday after the Fed decision. The Dow lost 0.2% to 16974.31 and the S&P 500 fell 0.1% to 1982.30.
The Dow is now down just 0.4% in October, through Wednesday's close. At its lowest point in October, the blue-chip index was down 5.4%. The recovery came as investors began to focus on third-quarter corporate earnings. Companies in the S&P 500 are on track to grow earnings 6.6% in the third quarter, according to FactSet, above the 4.5% expected before the start of the reporting season.
Investors said the speed of the recovery in stocks over the last two weeks helped contribute to Wednesday's slight pullback after the Fed and the spillover into Thursday's premarket trading.
"It's more of a short-term trading thing," said Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at CMC Markets. "Markets had been going almost straight up for two weeks."
In the long run, the Fed's more optimistic view on the U.S. labor market and broader economy, as well as corporate earnings, should lift stocks, he said.
Eurozone confidence picked up in October. The European Commission's economic sentiment indicator rose to 100.7 from 99.9 in September, beating expectations. The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.9%.
In commodity markets, crude-oil futures fell 1% to $81.35 a barrel. Gold futures dropped 1.6% to $1205.40 an ounce. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.308% from 2.325% on Wednesday.
In corporate news, Visa Inc.(V) reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings that topped expectations and announced a $5 billion share-buyback program. Shares rose 3.5%.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
10-30-140825ET
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