Wall Street Set to Open Higher Thursday as Investors Await Economic Indicators

09:28 AM EDT, 08/22/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US stocks look set to open marginally higher in Thursday's trading session as initial jobless claims met analyst forecasts, and investors await additional economic data coming out later in the day.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 0.1%, S&P 500 futures were rising 0.3%, and Nasdaq futures were moving 0.4% higher.

Initial jobless claims rose to 232,000 in the week ended Aug. 17 from 228,000 last week, which was in line with analyst forecasts, according to Bloomberg. Manufacturing and services PMIs and existing home sales data will be released later in the morning. Manufacturing PMI is expected to nudge lower to 49.5 in August from 49.6 in July, while services PMI is expected to decline to 54 from 55 the previous month, according to Bloomberg.

Oil prices were moving higher, with front-month global benchmarks Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate crude rising 0.6% and 0.5% respectively.

In other world markets, Japan's Nikkei rose 0.7%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng surged 1.4%, and China's Shanghai Composite was off 0.3%. Meanwhile, in Europe's early afternoon session, the UK's FTSE 100 was flat, while Germany's DAX and France's CAC were each up 0.2%.

On the winning side, shares of Staffing 360 Solutions (STAF) soared 155% in Thursday's premarket activity, following a 15% loss on Wednesday. GD Culture Group's (GDC) shares jumped 63%, adding to a huge 128% gain Wednesday when it said it launched a TikTok account to disseminate artificial intelligence information. Shares of Mobix Labs (MOBX) surged 56%, a day after it reported a narrower fiscal Q3 net loss per share and higher net revenue from a year earlier.

Shares of Air Industries Group (AIRI) advanced 56% after it said Thursday it received a $110 million, seven-year contract to produce thrust struts used in the geared turbo-fan aircraft jet engine. Guardion Health Sciences (GHSI) shares were up 21%, after declaring a $5 per share cash dividend overnight.

On the losing side, shares of Revelation Biosciences (REVB) tumbled 33% after soaring 101% on Wednesday. The company said late Wednesday that it signed a definitive agreement to immediately exercise certain outstanding warrants to purchase up to approximately 2.5 million shares of common stock at a reduced exercise price of $1.50 per share. Cyclo Therapeutics' (CYTH) stock fell 28% after it reported Thursday that it has agreed to merge with Rafael Holdings (RFL).

Shares of Virax Biolabs Group (VRAX) fell 5% after it said late Wednesday that it signed a deal to sell and issue approximately 1.1 million common shares at $4.50 per share through a registered direct offering. Advance Auto Parts' (AAP) shares were down more than 22% after the company reported lower fiscal Q2 results and cut its fiscal 2024 outlook. Urban Outfitters' (URBN) stock dropped 14% after Telsey Advisory downgraded it to market perform from outperform.