WBA Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc

By Paul J. Davies 

Here's what we're watching ahead of the opening bell on Thursday.

-- U.S. stock futures rose as investors looked past Wednesday night's storming of Congress by a pro-Trump mob that disrupted the Senate's confirmation of Joe Biden's election victory. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2%, suggesting the index of blue-chip stocks will extend a rally that pushed it to a record closing high Wednesday. S&P 500 futures also rose 0.4%.

Futures on the Nasdaq-100 Index gained 0.6%, suggesting that giant technology stocks may recoup some of their losses. Tech shares took a beating Wednesday when investors pushed into other stocks that are more dependent on economic growth.

What's Coming Up

-- Weekly jobless claims, due at 8:30 a.m. ET, are expected to be up 815,000 in the week ended Jan. 2, compared with 787,000 the week before. U.S. trade data are expected to show a deficit in November of $67.3 billion, up from $63.1 billion in October as imports grew by more than exports.

Later in the morning, figures on business services sentiment are expected to have worsened slightly in December, though still to have remained in expansion territory.

-- Corporate earnings season also gets underway with several companies due to give updates, including Walgreens Boots Alliance, Bed Bath & Beyond and Conagra Brands, all reporting before stock markets open.

Market Movers to Watch

-- Bed Bath & Beyond stock rose nearly 6.5% on Wednesday and was up another 0.8% in premarket trading Thursday. Analysts will be looking to see how the firm's sales performed during the key holiday season, including Black Friday.

-- Micron Technology is up 1% in premarket trading ahead of its earnings due Thursday afternoon, adding to the 2.6% rise its stock has enjoyed since the start of the year. Citigroup's analyst this week had a dramatic pivot on the stock, moving it from sell straight to buy and nearly trebling the price target to $100 from $35.

-- Moderna is up more than 3.2% in premarket, building on a 6.5% jump Wednesday after the European Union gave a green light to its Covid-19 vaccine for use in Europe.

-- Fox Corp. B shares were down 1.4% having leapt 8.4% on Wednesday.

-- Twitter shares slipped 1.5% premarket following a 1.2% drop the day before. The social media site blocked President Trump's account and deleted some of his posts late on Wednesday after he continued to claim he'd won the election in a "sacred landslide." Facebook also blocked Mr. Trump from posting, but its shares were 0.5% better after falling nearly 3% Wednesday.

Market Fact

Shares of Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs closed at a record for the first time in nearly three years, a sign of how much the bank has profited from the financial chaos of the past year. Its stock has risen about 19% over the past month, far more than any of its five big-bank peers.

Chart of the Day

The politics of reflation matters most for investors, but the long-term impact of elections is often quite different than it appears the day after the vote, writes columnist James Mackintosh.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 07, 2021 07:20 ET (12:20 GMT)

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