Stock futures were flat on Thursday as Wall Street looked to build on its best day in nearly a month.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 59 points, or 0.19%. S&P 500 futures rose 0.15%, while Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.13%.
Traders looked forward to a question-and-answer session from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at the Cato Institute later in the day as they looked for more clues about the central bank’s plans to raise interest rates in the future. The European Central Bank is also due to announce its latest policy decision on Thursday.
The stock market comes out of a Strong recovery during normal trading hours on Wednesday. The Dow Jones rose about 436 points, or 1.4%. The S&P 500 is up 1.8%, and the Nasdaq Composite is up 2.1%.
It was the best day since August 10 for all three averages, and the Nasdaq snapped a seven-day losing streak.
Even with Wednesday’s rally, stocks are still in a downtrend overall. Concerns about a slowing economy and an increase in interest rates from the Federal Reserve are driving some investors away from the riskier parts of the market.
“Recession risks are rising and we are moving more defensively in our portfolios as a result. However, higher inflation means that traditional ‘risk-off’ strategies such as cash and government bonds can create a drag on total return,” Lauren Goodwin, Economist and Portfolio Strategist In New York Life Investments, in a note to clients.
“We are fully invested in our portfolios, using selective bets within this generally neutral position to build resilience against volatility and inflation. In our equity portfolio, that includes a significant increase in share value and dividend payers,” added Goodwin.
On Thursday morning, investors will get the latest look at the US economy with jobless claims data. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect 235,000 initial unemployment claims, up slightly from 232,000 the previous week.
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