Opening Comment — Thursday, February 26, 2026
DJIA: 49,482.15, up 307.65
S&P 500: 6,946.13, up 56.06
NASDAQ: 23,152.08, up 288.40
Stocks flat ahead of jobless claims data
Stock futures are little changed Thursday morning as investors are awaiting fresh unemployment claims data. As of 7:15 AM ET, the Dow and the S&P 500 Index are both little changed. The Nasdaq 100 is also little changed relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were higher on Wednesday as markets digested Federal Reserve (Fed) commentary and awaited a major technology company’s earnings report. The Dow was up 0.6%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 1.3%. The S&P 500 increased 0.8% with five of 11 sectors finishing in positive territory. The Information Technology sector was the top performer, rising 1.8%, while the Industrials sector was the bottom performer, falling 0.8%.
On the data front, initial jobless claims for the week ending February 21 are expected to come in at 216,000, slightly higher than the prior week’s 206,000. Continuing claims are expected to fall slightly to 1.858 million for the week ending February 14 from the prior week’s 1.869 million. The Kansas City Fed will release their manufacturing survey for February, with the Composite Index expected to come in at 1.5, up from the prior month’s 0.
Across the pond, European stocks are mostly higher in mid-day trading as the eurozone’s M3 (a broad measure of the money supply) for January expanded by 3.3% year-over-year, outpacing projections. Meanwhile, the region’s economic confidence unexpectedly declined in February.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mixed as the Bank of Korea kept its base rate unchanged at 2.50% at its policy meeting. Australia’s private capital expenditure rose 0.4% in the fourth quarter.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is little changed as investors await U.S. unemployment claims data.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 1.6% lower at $64.37/barrel following a significantly larger-than-expected increase in U.S. crude oil inventories.
In the metals complex, gold is little changed at $5,163.64/ounce.