Futures Suggest Wall Street To Open Broadly Down

On the last day of trading in 2020, the shares are projected to open broadly lower, as indicated by the U.S. Futures Index.

Asian stocks closed mixed, while European shares are trading down.

As of 8.05 am ET, the Dow futures were declining 31.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were declining 2.50 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were gaining 11.75 points.

On Wednesday, the Dow rose by nearly 190 points in morning trading but ended the session up just 73.89 points or 0.2 percent at 30,409.56. The Nasdaq edged up 19.78 points or 0.2 percent to 12,870.00 and the S&P 500 inched up 5.00 points or 0.1 percent to 3,732.04.

On the economic front, the Labor Department's Jobless Claims for the week will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for 830K, while it was up 803K in the prior week.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA's Natural Gas Report for the week will be released at 10.30 am ET. In the previous week, the 10.30 am Gas stock was down 152 bcf.

The Fed Balance sheet for the week will be released at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week the level was at $7.404 trillion.

The Fed Money Supply for the week is scheduled at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior M2 Money Supply was $72.5 billion.

Asian stocks turned in a mixed performance on Thursday, the last trading day of 2020. Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand were closed for the day.
Chinese shares rose for a second straight day, while Hong Kong shares extended their winning streak. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index surged 58.62 points or 1.7 percent to 3,473.07. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 84.02 points or 0.3 percent to 27,231.13 but ended the year with a loss of 3.4 percent.

Australian shares closed notably. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index tumbled 95.30 points or 1.4 percent to 6,587.10 and the broader All Ordinaries Index slumped 92.30 points or 1.3 percent to 6,850.60.

European shares are trading mostly lower. Among the major indexes in the region, the CAC 40 Index of France is declining 12.38 points or 0.22 percent. The German DAX is losing 42.60 points or 0.31 percent, the U.K. FTSE 100 Index is down 95.30 points or 1.45 percent.

The Swiss Market Index is adding 21.47 points or 0.20 percent.

The Euro Stoxx 50 Index, which is a compilation of 50 blue chip stocks across the euro area, is down 0.80 percent.

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