Opening Comment — Thursday, March 12, 2026
DJIA: 47,417.27, down 289.24
S&P 500: 6,775.80, down 5.68
NASDAQ: 22,716.13, up 19.03
Stocks lower ahead of trade data
Stock futures are lower Thursday morning as oil prices remain elevated despite the International Energy Agency announcing plans yesterday for 400 million barrels of oil to be released from emergency reserves. Investors will be assessing further developments in the Iran war, along with today’s economic releases, including unemployment claims data and January’s trade data, housing starts, and preliminary building permits. As of 7:15 AM ET, the Dow is decreasing 0.7%, while the S&P 500 is down 0.5%. The Nasdaq 100 is also falling 0.5% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were mixed on Wednesday as the headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) came in as expected in February, rising 0.3% month-over-month (MOM) and 2.4% year-over-year (YOY). The core CPI (which excludes food and energy) increased 0.2% MOM and 2.5% YOY in February, both in line with expectations. The Dow was down 0.6%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.1%. The S&P 500 decreased 0.1% with eight of 11 sectors finishing in negative territory. The Energy sector was the top performer, rising 2.5%, while the Consumer Staples sector was the bottom performer, falling 1.3%.
On the data front, the U.S. trade deficit is expected to narrow in January to $66.0 billion from the prior month’s $70.3 billion. Initial jobless claims for the week ending March 7 are expected to come in at 215,000, higher than the prior week’s 213,000, while continuing claims are expected to fall slightly to 1.85 million for the week ending February 28 from the prior week’s 1.87 million. Housing starts are expected to have been an annualized 1.34 million in January versus the prior month’s 1.40 million, corresponding to a MOM decrease of 4.5% versus the prior month’s increase of 6.2%. Meanwhile, the preliminary reading of building permits for January are projected to come in slightly lower at an annualized pace of 1.41 million corresponding to a MOM decrease of 3.1%. The Federal Reserve (Fed) will release data on fourth-quarter household net worth.
Across the pond, European stocks are lower in mid-day trading as the U.K.’s Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors House Price Balance, which measures the sentiment of surveyors regarding house prices, fell more than expected by 12% in February.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were lower as markets contend with oil supply disruptions.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is slightly higher ahead of today’s U.S. trade data.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 4.2% higher at $90.88/barrel.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.1% higher at $5,182.46/ounce despite a strengthening U.S. dollar.