Dow Jones Industrial Average Expected to Open Higher Despite Disappointing Forecast from Salesforce

The major U.S. stock index futures are trading better but off their pre-market highs shortly before the cash market opening on Thursday. The indices are being buoyed by a dip in Treasury yields and some light position-squaring ahead of Friday’s widely anticipated speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, which could offer clues on the central bank’s monetary policy outlook and whether the U.S. is headed into recession.

At 12:00 GMT, the Blue Chip Dow futures are at 33069.00, up 111.00 or +0.33%. The benchmark S&P 500 Index futures are at 4166.75, up 24.00 or +0.58% and the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite futures are trading 13022.50, up 92.75 or +0.72%.

Treasury Yields Dip Ahead of Fed’s Jackson Hole Symposium

U.S. Treasury yields are slightly lower on Thursday ahead of the Federal Reserve’s annual meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Investors will be closely monitoring the business pages for news from the economic symposium. The main topics are expected to be soaring inflation, rising interest rates and the chances of recession.

Fed Chair Powell is expected to deliver a highly anticipated speech at 14:00 GMT on Friday. He is expected to deliver a hawkish message on the direction of interest rates, but may waver on his forecast for a recession. Investors will be looking for clarity and conviction from the Fed chief.

Economic News on the Forefront

Ahead of the opening, the U.S. will release its weekly unemployment report and data on real gross domestic product (GDP).

Weekly Unemployment Claims are expected to come in at 250K, unchanged from last week. The Preliminary GDP for the quarterly is expected to improve from -0.9% to -0.7%. A larger-than-expected decline could drive down the chances of a super-sized rate hike by the Fed at its September meeting. A better-than-expected improvement in economic growth could be a sign that the U.S. economic will avoid recession. It will also give the Fed the greenlight to raise rates more aggressively.

Stocks to Watch on the Cash Market Opening

Three stocks are garnering attention ahead of the U.S. cash market opening. They include Dollar Tree, Peloton and Salesforce.

Dollar Tree (DLTR) shares are down about 6.6% in the premarket session after cutting its full-year earnings forecast, due to the impact of pricing-related investments at its Family Dollar stores.

Peloton (PTON) is off by 17.5.5 in premarket trading after reporting a larger than expected loss of revenue that fell well short of Street forecasts.

Dow component Salesforce (CRM) plunged 6.3% in early trading after the company cut its full year guidance, as economic uncertainty slows the pace of economic deals.