Opening Comment — Thursday, August 20, 2026
DJIA: 53,463.05, up 119.65
S&P 500: 7,707.98, up 16.22
NASDAQ: 26,331.09, up 41.38
Stocks lower before jobless claims data
Stock futures are lower Thursday morning ahead of today’s release of fresh unemployment claims data and July’s Leading Index. As of 7:22 AM ET, the Dow is decreasing 0.3%, while the S&P 500 is down 0.1%. The Nasdaq 100 is falling 0.2% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were higher on Wednesday as investors assessed the Federal Open Market Committee’s meeting minutes, with many Federal Reserve (Fed) officials expecting that rate hikes would be needed if inflation remains elevated. The Dow was up 0.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also rose 0.2%. The S&P 500 increased 0.2% with seven of 11 sectors finishing in positive territory. The Health Care sector was the top performer, rising 3.5%, while the Industrials sector was the bottom performer, falling 0.9%.
On the data front, the Philadelphia Fed will release their August Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey, with the diffusion index of current general activity forecasted to fall to 24.8 from the prior month’s 41.4. Initial jobless claims for the week ending August 15 are expected to come in at 210,000, higher than the prior week’s 209,000, while continuing claims are expected to rise slightly to 1.79 million for the week ending August 8 from the prior week’s 1.78 million. The Leading Index for July is forecasted to show an increase of 0.1%, versus the prior month’s decrease of 0.2%.
Across the pond, European stocks are mostly lower in mid-day trading as Germany's July producer price inflation accelerated more than expected, with the Producer Price Index (PPI) rising 1.1% month-over-month (MOM) and 3.0% year-over-year (YOY), compared with the prior month's 0.3% MOM decline and 1.8% YOY increase.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mostly higher as China’s one- and five-year loan prime rates for August were left unchanged at 3.00% and 3.50%, respectively. Japan’s July trade deficit widened following stronger-than-expected increases in exports and imports. Australian employment unexpectedly fell in July and the unemployment rate rose to 4.5% despite the country’s labor force participation rate ticking down to 66.9%. Meanwhile, Australian consumer inflation expectations rose to 4.9% for August, up from the prior month’s 4.7%.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is lower ahead of tomorrow’s preliminary August Purchasing Managers' Index data.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 2.8% higher at $88.20/barrel despite a significantly stronger-than-expected increase in U.S. oil inventories.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.6% lower at $4,487.76/ounce despite a weakening U.S. dollar.