By Twesha Dikshit and Purvi Agarwal (Reuters) -Wall Street was set to open in the red on Thursday as investors awaited indications on the U.S. economy and the monetary policy path after President Donald Trump signed a bill ending the longest government shutdown in the country’s history. Markets will closely monitor the flow of official […]
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Wall Street set to open lower as markets await data after government reopening
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By Twesha Dikshit and Purvi Agarwal
(Reuters) -Wall Street was set to open in the red on Thursday as investors awaited indications on the U.S. economy and the monetary policy path after President Donald Trump signed a bill ending the longest government shutdown in the country’s history.
Markets will closely monitor the flow of official data, with its prolonged absence leaving both the Federal Reserve and traders guessing on the economy’s health and reliant on alternative sources.
Still, some data gaps are likely to be permanent, with the White Housing saying employment and Consumer Price Indexes reports for October might never be released.
“While we always expected that many data points missed during the shutdown will remain dark, there are questions about what the inflation and jobs data will look like once these reports come back online,” said Carol Schleif, chief market strategist at BMO Private Wealth.
“We would not be surprised to see some market chop over the coming weeks as the government gears and economic data presses get turning again.”
At 08:32 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 87 points, or 0.18%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 17 points, or 0.25% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 71.5 points, or 0.27%.
Data from private firms in recent weeks have raised concerns about a weakening U.S. job market.
U.S. employers shed more than 11,000 jobs a week through late October, according to payroll processor ADP. Separate data from Indeed Hiring Lab showed retail-related job postings dropped 16% in October compared to last year.
Traders are currently pricing in an about 54% chance of a 25-basis-point rate cut in December, lower than last week’s 70%, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
Several Fed speakers, including voting regional presidents, have expressed scepticism over another interest rate cut in December, prompting investors to scale back bets.
Comments from more Fed officials will be parsed through the day.
A bright spot, Cisco Systems’ shares rose 6.3% in premarket trading after the company raised full-year profit and revenue forecasts betting on demand for its networking equipment.
Technology and AI names have come under pressure lately, with the Nasdaq falling in the past two sessions, as investors rotated out of pricey tech stocks into traditionally defensive areas such as healthcare and consumer staples.
The Dow has benefited from the rotation, notching back-to-back record highs after lagging the S&P and the Nasdaq this year.
Nvidia was down 1.1% before the bell, while Alphabet was off 0.9%.
AI bellwether Nvidia’s earnings next week could further test the optimism around the technology which has driven markets to record highs this year, but come under more scrutiny in recent weeks.
Walt Disney was down almost 6%. The media giant said it would boost its dividend by 50% and double its share buyback plan for fiscal 2026.
JD.com shares gained 1.5% as the e-commerce giant topped market estimates for quarterly revenue.
Among other moves, memory device makers Western Digital and Sandisk dropped over 2.5% each after results from Japan’s Kioxia Holdings.
Sealed Air shares jumped 21.8% after reports that the company was set to go private in an acquisition deal with equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice.
(Reporting by Twesha Dikshit and Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; editing by Maju Samuel)