<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. stock index futures moved slightly lower on Thursday as investors remained cautious amid the escalating conflict involving Iran, despite gains on Wall Street in the previous session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As of 05:35 ET (10:35 GMT)<\/strong>, Dow Jones Futures fell 55 points, or 0.1%<\/strong>, while S&P 500 Futures<\/strong> and Nasdaq 100 Futures<\/strong> hovered near the flatline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The major U.S. indices closed higher on Wednesday, supported by strong economic data and reports suggesting Iran might be open to dialogue. The Dow Jones Industrial Average<\/strong> rose 0.5%<\/strong>, the S&P 500<\/strong> gained 0.8%<\/strong>, and the Nasdaq Composite<\/strong> climbed 1.3%<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, optimism over a potential quick resolution to the conflict has faded as hostilities entered their sixth consecutive day<\/strong>. Iran launched a new wave of missiles targeting Israel, signaling that tensions remain far from easing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The attack came shortly after the U.S. Senate voted against a proposal to halt the ongoing air campaign<\/strong>, which would have required congressional authorization for continued military action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, Mojtaba Khamenei<\/strong>, son of Iran\u2019s slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has reportedly emerged as a leading candidate to succeed his father, suggesting Tehran may not yield to international pressure anytime soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the immediate economic consequences of the conflict is already being felt in the United States, where gasoline prices have begun rising<\/strong>, raising concerns about broader inflationary pressures and potential impacts on economic growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva<\/strong> warned that the crisis is testing \u201cglobal economic resilience.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite geopolitical concerns, investors received some reassurance from stronger-than-expected U.S. economic data released Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Private payrolls data for February showed the labor market continuing to expand<\/strong>, while the ISM services purchasing managers\u2019 index (PMI)<\/strong> climbed to its highest level in more than three years<\/strong>, indicating robust demand in the services sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, the Federal Reserve\u2019s Beige Book<\/strong> report suggested policymakers remain relatively optimistic about the state of the U.S. economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Investors are now looking ahead to Challenger job cuts data later Thursday<\/strong> and the highly anticipated nonfarm payrolls report on Friday<\/strong>, which could offer further clues about the trajectory of the labor market and future Federal Reserve policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Corporate earnings will also remain in focus, particularly in the retail sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Results are expected before the market opens from Kroger<\/strong>, Burlington Stores<\/strong>, and BJ\u2019s Wholesale<\/strong>, while Costco<\/strong> is scheduled to report after the closing bell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, Broadcom<\/strong> shares surged in premarket trading after the semiconductor company reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results and issued revenue guidance above market forecasts<\/strong>, driven by strong demand for artificial intelligence chips<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The company also announced a $10 billion share buyback program<\/strong>, further boosting investor confidence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" U.S. stock index futures moved slightly lower on Thursday as investors remained cautious amid the escalating conflict involving Iran, despite gains on Wall Street in the previous session. As of 05:35 ET (10:35 GMT), Dow Jones Futures fell 55 points, or 0.1%, while S&P 500 Futures and Nasdaq 100 Futures hovered near the flatline. The …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":53440,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6827,49,39,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-daily-economic-reports","category-economic-reports","category-global-stock-markets","category-market-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124410"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124410\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":124411,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124410\/revisions\/124411"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Middle East conflict continues to escalate<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Strong economic data offers some support<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Earnings focus shifts to retail sector<\/h3>\n\n\n\n