US Stocks Look Set To Squander Wednesday's Gains As Economic Worries Continue To Haunt Traders, Futures Trading Shows — Apple, Tesla In Focus

The major U.S. index futures were pointing to a markedly weaker start on Thursday, potentially reversing some of the previous session’s strong gains.

U.S. stocks rallied out of the gate on Wednesday, with the upward momentum accelerating over the course of the session, as bargain hunting lifted the market from out of its two-year lows.

Energy, communications, consumer discretionary and material stocks led the advances on a day, which saw across-the-board buying interest.

Here’s a peek into index futures trading:

In premarket trading on Thursday, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF TrustSPY fell 0.85% to $367.39, while Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ was down 1.16% to $276.69, according to Benzinga Pro data.

On the economic front, the Labor Department will release the jobless claims report for the week ended Sept. 24 at 8:30 a.m. EDT. Economists, on average, expect the number of individuals filing for unemployment benefits to tick up from 213,000 in the previous week to 215,000.

The Census Bureau will release the third estimate of second-quarter GDP data, also at 8:30 a.m. EDT. The report is likely to confirm the 0.6% month-over-month contraction previously reported. Traders may also keep an eye on the price consumption expenditure data from the report to gauge inflationary pressure.

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard is expected to speak at 9:30 a.m. EDT, while Loretta Mester, Cleveland Fed president and Federal Open Market Committee member, is scheduled to make a public appearance at 1 p.m. EDT.

See also: Is The SPY Headed For Another Bull Cycle In This Bear Market: Here's A Look At The Market ETF

Stocks In Focus:

• Tesla, Inc. TSLA shares could see some activity ahead of a few near-term catalysts, including its AI Day scheduled for late Friday and third-quarter deliveries data due this weekend. The company also announced the appointment of Airbnb, Inc. ABNB founder Joseph Gebbia as a member of its board.
• Apple, Inc. AAPL continued to head southward after conflicting reports concerning the demand for its iPhone 14. BofA Securities downgraded the company’s shares from Buy to Neutral, with a $160 price target. Separately, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the company’s self-driving car project will likely have a new team in place by the end of 2022.
• Windtree Therapeutics, Inc. WINT shares were rising on a positive mid-stage readout.

Commodities, Global Equity Markets:

Crude oil futures were advancing for a third straight session, although the upward momentum has moderated. The recent strength, which took black gold past $80-a-barrel, was due to supply concerns following Hurricane Ian impacting production.

The Asian markets had a mixed session on Thursday. While the Japanese, Australian, South Korean and New Zealand markets advanced — China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and India ended in the red. Optimism over Wall Street’s rebound was tempered by worries concerning the economic outlook in an inflationary environment.

European stocks were trading notably lower in late morning trading. Porsche, which was spun off from Volkswagen AG VWAGY went public by listing its shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on Thursday.