Here are the most important news, trends and analysis that investors need to start their trading day:
- U.S. stocks set to drop for a fourth straight session
- 10-year Treasury yield dips ahead of jobless claims after Fed minutes
- Bitcoin briefly tops $40,000 after Wednesday’s plunge
- Virgin Galactic jumps after next spaceflight test set for Saturday
- Star studded-backed Oatly set to begin trading on Wall Street
1. U.S. stocks set to drop for a fourth straight session
U.S. stock futures Thursday pointed to a fourth straight negative session, as tech names and bitcoin tried to shake off their recent weakness. Dow component Cisco Systems dropped 6% in the premarket, one day after the data center networking firm issued weaker-than-expected earnings guidance. On Wednesday, the Nasdaq closed basically flat after sinking as much as 1.7% earlier in the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 also saw major comebacks from steep drops to close only modestly lower.
2. 10-year Treasury yield dips ahead of jobless claims after Fed minutes
The 10-year Treasury yield early Thursday backed away from its previous day pop to 1.678% as minutes from the Federal Reserve‘s April meeting suggested central bankers might taper the pace of extraordinary Covid-era asset purchases if the economy were to continue to recover rapidly. Investors will be looking to the government’s 8:30 a.m. ET of weekly jobless claims data for a read on whether the labor market was still improving. Economists expect initial unemployment benefits filings to total 452,000 for last week compared to 473,000 in the week prior.
3. Bitcoin briefly tops $40,000 after Wednesday’s plunge
Bitcoin on Thursday seesawed just above and just below $40,000 after the wild ride of the past 24 hours that saw the world’s largest cryptocurrency on Wednesday tank 30% to three-month lows near $30,000. That represented an over 50% decline from last month’s all-time high of almost $65,000. At Wednesday’s lows, the digital coin went to basically break even for 2021. However, it was still up more than 200% in the past 12 months. During Wednesday afternoon trading, bitcoin rebounded before pulling back later in the day and overnight.
4. Virgin Galactic jumps after next spaceflight test set for Saturday
Shares of Virgin Galactic jumped 17% in Thursday’s premarket after the space tourism firm said it’s targeting Saturday for its next spaceflight test. The company made the announcement following the completion of a maintenance review of its carrier aircraft that had threatened delays. Virgin Galactic is aiming to begin commercial service in 2022. Ahead of the premarket surge, the stock was off 27% year-to-date and down 65% in the past three months. It saw a major leg down last week after Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest revealed her firm’s space exploration ETF sold almost all of its Virgin Galactic stake.
5. Star studded-backed Oatly set to begin trading on Wall Street
Oatly is set to debut on the Nasdaq on Thursday after pricing its initial public offering at $17 per share, the top of the expected range. The Swedish oat milk maker raised $1.4 billion, valuing the company at $10 billion. Last year, Oatly raised $200 million in a funding round led by private equity firm Blackstone, and included Oprah Winfrey, Natalie Portman, an entertainment firm founded by rapper Jay Z, and former Starbucks boss Howard Schultz.
— Reuters contributed to this report. Follow all the market action like a pro on CNBC Pro. Get the latest on the pandemic with CNBC’s coronavirus coverage.