FX.co ★ Choppy Trading Likely To Persist On Wall Street

The prominent U.S. index futures are indicating a relatively stable opening for the Stock market this Thursday. This comes after an uneventful performance over the last two sessions.

Previously, futures had suggested a somewhat lower opening. However, they rebounded after a Labor Department report revealed that the number of first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits for the week ending May 4th was much larger than anticipated.

The report showed an increase in initial jobless claims to 231,000, 22,000 more than the revised level of 209,000 from the prior week. Experts had predicted a slight increase to 210,000 from the originally reported 208,000 of the preceding week.

This unexpected significant increase culminated in the highest jobless claims since August 26th when they hit 234,000. This data might bolster the recently renewed optimism concerning a possible lowering of interest rates by the Federal Reserve in the forthcoming months.

However, the trading activity might remain relatively stagnant as traders exhibit some uncertainty regarding the short-term outlook for the markets.

Despite the turbulent trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher for the sixth consecutive day, achieving its best closing level in over a month.

Market indices ended the day mixed. The Dow Jones rose 172.13 points or 0.4 percent to 39,056.39, whereas the S&P 500 nudged down by less than a tenth of a percent to 5,187.67, and the Nasdaq Composite fell by 29.80 points or 0.2 percent to 16,302.76.

The uncertainty over the possible cuts to interest rates continued following Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari's remarks on Tuesday, suggesting that current interest rates may need to be maintained for a considerable extended duration.

Nevertheless, there is still a widely-held expectation for the Federal Reserve to lower rates within the third quarter with an 83.5 percent chance indicated by the CME Group's FedWatch Tool of rates being reduced by September.

Among individual stocks, shares of Uber Technologies plummeted following their unexpected first-quarter loss, which was attributed to weaker than expected booking revenue. Meanwhile, cloud communications company, Twilio reported better than expected first quarter results but provided lower second-quarter revenue guidance.

The NYSE Arca Networking Index experienced a significant climb of 1.1 percent, led by a 6.5 percent surge in Arista Networks following their better than expected first-quarter results.

Crude oil futures are seeing an uptick of $0.53 to $79.52 per barrel after a rise of $0.61 to $78.99 per barrel on Wednesday. Correspondingly, gold futures, after a slight decline of $1.90 to $2,322.30 per ounce in the last session, are showing a slight increase of $3 to $2,325.30 per ounce.

As for currencies, the U.S. dollar is trading at 155.64 yen, compared to the 155.53 yen it held at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0753 up from yesterday's $1.0748.

Asian stocks ended mostly lower on Thursday, barring Chinese and Hong Kong markets, which saw gains backed by strong trade data. A prevailing cautious undertone due to uncertainty over Federal rate cuts and ongoing conflicts on the outskirts of the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Despite hawkish comments by the Federal Reserve driving the U.S dollar, Asian trade saw modest gains in oil and gold prices.

Chinese exports experienced a more than expected rebound in April, as per customs office data. Exports rose 1.5 percent year-on-year in April, faster than the anticipated 1.0 percent growth and reversing the 7.5 percent decline seen in March.The level of imports exceeded economists' predictions, surging by 8.4% on an annual basis. Stock markets in China saw an uptick, with the Shanghai Composite Index rising by 0.8% to reach 3,154.32 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rallying by 1.2% to hit 18,537.81. This surge comes on the back of property stocks gaining momentum after the lifting of all home purchase restrictions in the megacity of Hangzhou.

In Japan, markets saw a slight decline as the yen stabilized after three days of depreciation due to intervention conversations. Japan signaled readiness to handle foreign exchange matters at any given time, announces Masato Kanda, the country's top currency diplomat. Bank of Japan's April meeting revealed board members' inclination towards a stronger financial policy stance. This comes after data indicated that real wage in Japan has been on the decrease for the last 24 months consecutively, adding strength to the argument for policymakers to refrain from aggressive rate hikes.

Japanese stock indices presented a mixed picture. The Nikkei 225 Index dipped by 0.3% to settle at 38,073.98, while the Topix Index rose marginally by 0.3% to 2,713.46. Leading entities like Sony, Toyota, and Fast Retailing saw a decline of more than 1%, whereas Nintendo rallied by a notable 3.5%.

South Korean stocks faced significant pressure due to persisting uncertainties around potential U.S. rate cuts. Awaiting the release of key U.S. CPI data, the Kospi Index slumped by 1.2%, falling to 2,712.14, with technology giants like Naver, SK Hynix, and Samsung Electronics shedding 1% to 2% of their stock value.

In Australia, a disappointing quarterly performance by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia resulted in the markets losing ground. The banking behemoth's shares dropped by 2.2%, taking the benchmark S&P ASX 200 Index down by 1.1% to 7,721.60. The broader All Ordinaries Index closed 1% lower at 7,994.20. Next door in New Zealand, the benchmark S&P NZX-50 Index also dropped 0.3% to 11,746.58.

In Europe, stocks mostly trend up, following the Bank of England maintaining the main policy rate in its sixth consecutive meeting. A split vote held the Bank Rate at 5.25%. This rate is the highest since the early days of 2008. Two representatives, Swati Dhingra and Dave Ramsden, sought a decrease of a quarter-point in the said meeting.

This resulted in the German DAX Index gaining by 0.8%, the U.K's FTSE 100 Index and French CAC 40 Index both rose by a modest 0.3%. In corporate developments, a hostile takeover bid of 12.23 billion euros ($13.11 billion) launched by BBVA for Sabadell, a Spanish bank, spurred a surge in Sabadell's shares, while BBVA's own shares fell by 6%.

Finally, the U.S. Labor Department reported that the number of first-time claims for unemployment benefits saw a more significant increase than anticipated in the week ending May 4th, with initial jobless claims rising to 231,000 from the previous week's 209,000.