By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Thursday, with stocks poised to regain ground following the weakness seen in the previous session.
Early trading may be impacted by reaction to a slew of U.S. economic data, including a report from the Labor Department showing initial jobless claims edged lower in the week ended March 10th.
Following the mixed performance seen on Tuesday, stocks moved mostly lower during trading on Wednesday. With the downward move, the tech-heavy Nasdaq pulled back further off the record closing high set on Monday.
The Dow tumbled 248.91 points or 1 percent to 24,758.12, the Nasdaq dipped 14.20 points or 0.2 percent to 7,496.81 and the S&P 500 fell 15.83 points or 0.6 percent to 2,749.48.
The weakness on Wall Street came following the release of a report from the Commerce Department showing an unexpected decrease in retail sales in the month of February.
The Commerce Department said retail sales edged down by 0.1 percent in February, matching the revised downtick seen in January.
Economists had expected retail sales to rise by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.3 percent drop originally reported for the previous month.
A separate report from the Labor Department showed producer prices rose by 0.2 percent in February, matching economist estimates.
Excluding food and energy prices, producer prices also edged up by 0.2 percent, also in line with the expectations of economists.
Traders were also spooked by rumors that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates by a half-point when the central bank meets next week.
Adedapo Adesanya