US Stock Markets Today: Dow Jones futures inch higher, suggest a positive opening

DJIA Index US Stock Market Today: Dow Jones Industrial Average futures, an early indicator of the US equity benchmark, inched higher minutes before the opening bell on Wall Street on Thursday. At 6:50 pm in India (8:20 am in New York), DJIA futures were trading up 94 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 44,202 while S&P 500 futures were up 5.0 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 6,021, suggesting a positive start to the day in the US stock markets on November 14. 

Analysts keenly awaited a key economic indicator on US jobless claims that would highlight the state of the world's largest economy and shed some light on the course of benchmark interest rates in the coming months. 

US Share Market: Key headlines to track today

• US jobless claims
• US stockpiles update
• Fed official Thomas Barkin speech

The jobless claims data is due around the time of the opening bell. Separate data on American crude oil stockpiles is also due later in the day. 

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How Dow Jones, S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite fared in last session  

On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 - the main blue-chip indices on Wall Street - secured mild gains though the technology stocks-heavy Nasdaq Composite inched lower. 

The DJIA climbed up 47.2 points to end at 43,958.2, the S&P 500 barely rose to 5,985.4 and the Nasdaq Composite shed 50.7 points to settle at 19,230.7.

Fed Rate Cut  

This month, the Fed lowered benchmark interest rates by 25 basis points, as widely expected, citing a solid pace of economic activity and inflation continuing to move towards the American central bank's 2 per cent target.

The Fed Open Market Committee (FOMC), the US central bank's rate-deciding panel, decided unanimously to lower the key rates by 25 bps. 

Fed Chair Jerome Powell has said that the 2024 US presidential election, in which Republican Donald Trump won the race to the White House, would have no impact on its policy decisions in the near term.

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