Wall Street Signals Negative Start

(RTTNews) - Ongoing hostilities in the Middle East have heightened oil and gas price volatility, fueling inflation expectations. Furthermore, the potential shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz is intensifying concerns over significant supply disruptions.

Initial signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open lower on Thursday.

As of 7.30 am ET, the Dow futures were losing 236.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were down 25.00 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were sliding 85.50 points.

In the Asian trade hours, oil prices were up more than 4 percent, while the dollar rose. Gold prices were little changed at $5,178 an ounce.

The U.S. major averages closed mixed for the second straight day on Wednesday. While the Nasdaq inched up 19.03 points or 0.1 percent to 22,716.13, the S&P 500 edged down 5.68 points or 0.1 percent to 6,775.80 and the Dow slid 289.24 points or 0.6 percent to 47,417.27.

On the economic front, the Housing Starts and Permits for January will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus for Housing Starts is 1.340 million, while it was up 1.404 million in the prior month. Consensus for Pemits is 1.410 million, while in December it was 1.448 million.

International Trade in Goods and Services for January will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for decline of $67.9 billion, while it was down $70.3 billion in the prior month.

The Jobless Claims for the week is scheduled at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 217K, while it was up 213K in the prior week.

The Quarterly Services Survey report is expected at 10.00 am ET.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA's Natural Gas Report for the week will be published at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the gas stock was down 132 bcf.

Ten-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities or TIPS announcement will be at 11.00 am ET.

Twenty-year Treasury Bond auction will be held at 11.00 am and 30-year Treasury Bond auction will be held at 1.00 pm ET.

The Fed Balance Sheet for will be released at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the Level was at $6.629 trillion.

Asian stocks tumbled on Thursday. China's Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.10 percent to 4,129.10. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dipped 0.70 percent to 25,716.76.

Japanese stocks ended lower. The Nikkei average ended down 1.04 percent at 54,452.96. The broader Topix index closed 1.32 percent lower at 3,649.85.

Australian markets fell sharply. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.31 percent to 8,629. The broader All Ordinaries index settled 1.40 percent lower at 8,851.40.