Stock futures add to gains as Fed signals more rate hikes

The Energy Information Administration will release its inventory report for last week, expecting crude stockpiles to fall by a little more than one million barrels

U.S. equity futures were trading higher Thursday morning, adding to the gains from the prior session.

The major futures indexes suggest a gain of 0.4% when the opening bell rings on Wall Street.

U.S. stocks posted modest gains Wednesday as investors looked at the possibility of another sizable rate hike from the Federal Reserve at the July meeting, according to the prior meeting minutes. This was aimed at curtailing red hot inflation.

NYSE Trading

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York. (REUTERS/Brendan McDermid / Reuters Photos)

On Thursday, U.S. crude traded at $98 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost 97 cents to $98.53 a barrel Wednesday. Brent crude, the price basis for international trading, traded at $100 per barrel in London. It tumbled $2.08 the previous session to $100.69.

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The Energy Information Administration will release its inventory report for last week. Crude stockpiles are expected to fall by a little more than one million barrels, following a decline of almost 3 million barrels the previous week.

Oil storage tanks

Storage tanks are seen at Marathon Petroleum's Los Angeles Refinery. (REUTERS/Bing Guan / Reuters Photos)

On the economic calendar, the Labor Department is out with its count of new claims for unemployment benefits for last week. Expectations are for 230,000, little changed from 231,000 the previous week and holding slightly above pre-pandemic levels. 

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The monthly employment report for June will be released Friday morning.

Supply chain issues

Shipping containers are unloaded from ships at a container terminal at the Port of Long Beach-Port of Los Angeles. (REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo / Reuters)

The U.S. trade balance for May is expected to narrow for a second month to $84.9 billion. 

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Bitcoin traded around $20,000.

In Asia, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo gained 1.5%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 0.1% and China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.3%.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
I:DJI DOW JONES AVERAGES 43870.35 +461.88 +1.06%
SP500 S&P 500 5948.71 +31.60 +0.53%
I:COMP NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX 18972.420086 +6.28 +0.03%

Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 index gained 0.4% to 3,845.08 on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2% to 31,037.68. The Nasdaq composite added 0.3% to 11,361.85.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.