U.S. futures higher despite Fed minutes, data ahead; Dow Jones up 0.17%

U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open on Thursday, although the Federal Reserve signalled the possibility it could begin tapering its asset purchase program sooner than expected, while investors eyed the release of U.S. data later in the day. 

Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.17% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.12% gain, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.20% increase. 

According to the minutes of the Fed’s October meeting, policymakers said they could start scaling back the USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program in the “coming months” if the economy continues to improve as expected. 

Sentiment weakened earlier, after data showed that China’s HSBC manufacturing index ticked down to 50.4 in November, from a final reading of 50.9 in October, missing forecasts for a reading of 50.8. 

Financial stocks were expected to remain in focus for the third consecutive session, following reports Goldman Sachs' revenue from its currency-trading unit slumped during the third quarter. Goldman Sachs shares were still up 0.21% in after-hour trade. 

On Tuesday, JPMorgan Chase, up 0.09% in extended trading, reached a record USD13 billion settlement with federal and state authorities to resolve claims over its sales of mortgage-backed securities during the housing crisis. 

Elsewhere, Google was little changed in pre-market trade after Chairman Eric Schmidt said protecting Internet traffic with hard-to-crack code may prevent governments from censoring their populations’ communications within a decade. 

Microsoft was up 0.05% in early trading, a day after Nokia Oyj investors were said to have cleared the sale of its mobile-phone unit to the U.S. company in a USD7.4 billion deal. 

Other stocks expected to be in focus included Target, Dollar Tree, Abercrombie & Fitch and Gamestop, scheduled to report earnings later in the day. 

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were lower. The EURO STOXX 50 slipped 0.25%, France’s CAC 40 retreated 0.39%, Germany's DAX shed 0.26%, while Britain's FTSE 100 edged up 0.07%. 

During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 0.51%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index rallied 1.92%. 

Later in the day, the U.S. was release data on producer price inflation, as well as the weekly report on initial jobless claims and data manufacturing activity from the Philly Fed.

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Euro zone private sector activity slows in November

Private sector activity in the euro zone lost momentum in November according to data released by Markit on Thursday, underlining concerns over the economic outlook for the currency bloc, after data last week showed that growth slowed in the third quarter.

The Markit euro zone’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index ticked up to 51.5 in November from a final reading of 51.3 in October.

However, the euro areas services PMI declined to 50.9 this month from 51.6 in October, disappointing expectations for an increase to 51.9. 

“The average reading over the fourth quarter so far is signaling a very modest 0.2% expansion of GDP across the region, and it looks like momentum is being lost again”, Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit said.

“The fall in the PMI for a second successive month suggests that the European Central Bank was correct to cut interest rates to a record low at its last meeting, and the further loss of growth momentum will raise calls for policymakers to do more to prevent the euro zone from slipping back into another recession”.

The ECB surprised investors after it unexpectedly cut rates to a record low 0.25% earlier this month amid concerns over mounting deflationary pressures in the euro area.

"Attention will also be focused on the signs that deflationary forces may be gathering," he added.

Germany's manufacturing PMI rose to a 29 month high of 52.5 in November, from 51.7 in October, while the services sector PMI rose to a nine-month high of 54.5 from 52.9.

But weaker-than-expected French data indicated that activity in the euro zone’s second-largest economy contracted for the first time in three months in November.

The French manufacturing PMI fell to a six-month low of 47.8 from 49.1 last month, while the services PMI dropped unexpectedly to a four-month low of 48.8 from 50.9. 

Last week, Eurostat said euro zone gross domestic product expanded 0.1% in the three months to September, slowing from the 0.3% growth achieved in the second quarter when the euro zone exited a recession.

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