By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a pointing to a roughly flat opening on Thursday, suggesting stocks may show a lack of direction in early trading.
Traders may be reluctant to make significant moves as they digest the whistleblower complaint that sparked the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.
The document outlines concerns about Trump ?using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election.?
After initially showing a lack of direction, stocks climbed firmly into positive territory over the course of the trading session on Wednesday. The advance on the day came on the heels of the significant downturn seen in the previous session.
The major averages pulled back off their highs going into the close but held on to notable gains. The Dow climbed 162.94 points or 0.6 percent to 26,970.71, the Nasdaq jumped 83.76 points or 1.1 percent to 8,077.39 and the S&P 500 rose 18.27 points or 0.6 percent to 2,984.87.
Stocks moved to the upside in reaction to the release of the transcript of Trump’s controversial call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The transcript confirms Trump discussed a possible investigation of former Vice President and Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden in the call with Zelensky, although he does not directly link the issue to U.S. aid.
The release of the transcript comes amid claims Trump threatened to withhold military aid from Ukraine unless Zelensky conducted an investigation of Biden and his son Hunter.
Traders seemed relieved the evidence contained in the transcript does not appear to be enough to convince Republicans to jump ship and potentially derail Trump’s pro-business presidency.
A day before the release of the transcript, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced the Democrat-controlled House is moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry of Trump.
Pelosi said she is directing six House committees to proceed with their investigations under the umbrella of the impeachment inquiry, saying Trump “must be held accountable” and “no one is above the law.”
The speaker accused Trump of a breach of his constitutional responsibilities by calling upon a foreign power to intervene in the upcoming election.
On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a report showing U.S. new home sales rebounded strongly in the month of August following a sharp pullback in the previous month.
The Commerce Department said new home sales surged up by 7.1 percent to an annual rate of 713,000 in August after plunging by 8.6 percent to a revised rate of 666,000 in July.
Economists had expected new home sales to jump by 3.9 percent to a rate of 660,000 from the 635,000 originally reported for the previous month.
Tobacco stocks showed a significant move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Tobacco Index up by 1.9 percent. The index rebounded from its lowest closing level in nearly eight months.
Philip Morris (PM) led the tobacco sector higher, surging up by 5.2 percent after ending merger talks with Altria (MO).
Considerable strength also emerged among steel stocks, as reflected by the 1.9 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Steel Index.
Semiconductor, computer hardware, and networking stocks have also moved notably higher, contributing to the jump by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
On the other hand, gold stocks moved sharply lower along with the price of the precious metal, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 3.5 percent.
