U.S. Stock Futures Waver Ahead of Jobless Data

U.S. stock futures were little changed ahead of a weekly update on the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits.

S&P 500 futures and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures traded broadly flat. The contracts don't necessarily predict moves after the markets open.

Europe stocks climbed Thursday for a two-day winning streak. The Stoxx Europe 600 gained 0.4% in morning trade. The information-technology and communication-services sectors led gains while the consumer-staples and financials sectors lost ground.

Bankinter slipped 2.1% for a three-session losing streak.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 added 0.2%. Other stock indexes in Europe also mostly climbed as France's CAC 40 rose 0.6%, the U.K.'s FTSE 250 gained 0.4% and Germany's DAX added 0.5%.

The Swiss franc and the euro were up 0.2% and 0.1% respectively against the U.S. dollar and the British pound was mostly flat against the U.S. dollar, with 1 pound buying $1.39.

In commodities, Brent crude was down 0.4% to $65.06 a barrel. Gold was flat, at $1,793.60 a troy ounce.

German 10-year bund yields declined to minus 0.273% and 10-year gilts yields fell to 0.728%. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield declined to 1.547% from 1.566%. Yields move inversely to prices.

Stocks in Asia were mixed as Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 0.5% and Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 2.4%, whereas China's benchmark Shanghai Composite was lower 0.2%.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 22, 2021 03:55 ET (07:55 GMT)

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