US Stock Futures Suggest Mixed Open; Corporate Earnings And Economic Data Should Provide Direction

Following yet another strong session on the bourses, stock futures suggest a mixed opening Thursday at least until the release of the consumer price index and jobless claims data, and earnings announcements from Wall Street majors such as Citigroup and Goldman Sachs.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.13 percent and futures on the S&P 500 were down 0.14 percent while those on the Nasdaq were up 0.02 percent.

On the earnings calendar before market hours, we have quarterly results from finance majors such as Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) and UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH). After hours, the line-up includes Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC) and Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE:COF) among others.

On the data front, consumer price index, or CPI, for December is scheduled to be released at 8:30 a.m. EST and a month-on-month change of 0.3 percent is estimated by a Wall Street Journal consensus. Data on jobless claims for the week ended Jan. 11 are also due at the same time, and new claims are expected to drop to 327,000 from the previous week’s 330,000 reading.

In Europe, stocks were down with the Stoxx Europe 600 index falling 0.2 percent while the FTSE 100 was down 0.1 percent. Germany’s DAX-30 was down 0.21 percent while France's CAC-40 was down 0.28 percent.

In Asia, markets were mixed with Japan’s Nikkei falling 0.39 percent while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 1.21 percent. The Shanghai Composite index was flat while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.37 percent. South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.21 percent and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.11 percent.