Following the upward move seen over the two previous sessions, stocks may show a lack of direction in early trading on Thursday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open for the markets, as the S&P 500 futures are up by less than a tenth of a percent.
Traders may stick to the sidelines as they digest highly anticipated earnings news from Nvidia (NVDA), with the AI darling and market leader slipping by 0.3 percent in pre-market trading.
The dip by Nvidia comes after the company reported second quarter results that largely exceeded expectations, but its data center sales came in short of estimates.
Investors are also looking ahead to Friday's release of the Commerce Department's on personal income and spending in the month of July, which includes the Federal Reserve's preferred readings on consumer price inflation.
The report, which is expected to show an uptick in the annual rate of core consumer price growth to 2.9 percent in July from 2.8 percent in June, could impact the outlook for interest rates.
CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating an 85.3 percent chance the Fed will lower rates by a quarter point at its next monetary policy meeting in September.
On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a report showing the U.S. economy grew by more than previously estimated in the second quarter of 2025.
The report said real gross domestic product shot up by 3.3 percent in the second quarter compared to the previously reported 3.0 percent surge. Economists had expected the jump in GDP to be upwardly revised to 3.1 percent.
The Commerce Department said the stronger than previously estimated growth primarily reflected upward revisions to investment and consumer spending.
A separate report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed a modest decrease by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended August 23rd.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims dipped to 229,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week's revised level of 234,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to slip to 230,000 from the 235,000 originally reported for the previous month.
Shortly after the start of trading, the National Association of Realtors is due to release its report on pending home sales in the month of July. Pending home sales are expected to edge down by 0.1 percent in July after falling by 0.8 percent in June.
After ending Tuesday's choppy trading session mostly higher, stocks saw some further upside during trading on Wednesday. While buying interest was somewhat subdued, the S&P 500 managed to reach a new record closing high.
The major averages all posted modest gains on the day. The Dow rose 147.16 points or 0.3 percent to 45,565.23, the Nasdaq edged up 45.87 points or 0.2 percent at 21,590.14 and the S&P 500 crept up 15.46 points or 0.2 percent to 6,481.40.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index climbed by 0.7 percent and China's Shanghai Composite Index jumped by 1.1 percent, although Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index bucked the uptrend and slid by 0.8 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets are turning in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.4 percent, the German DAX Index is just below the unchanged line and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.3 percent.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures are slipping $0.11 to $64.04 a barrel after jumping $0.90 to $64.15 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after climbing $15.60 to $3,448.60 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are rising $10.10 to $3,458.70 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 146.91 yen versus the 147.42 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1680 compared to yesterday's $1.1639.
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