US stock futures were unchanged on Thursday as Wall Street hoped the debt ceiling crisis would soon see a resolution.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures up by 15 points. Futures linked to S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 was also up somewhat.
Regional banks were set to build on their strong gains from the previous session. The SPDR S&P Regional Bank ETF ( KRE ) traded 1.3% higher after rising more than 7% on Wednesday. PacWest shares rose nearly 6%.
Wall Street is coming off a strong session, with the major averages jumping more than 1% each on Wednesday as hopes of a possible debt ceiling deal rose.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday he does not believe that the United States will pay its debts. President Joe Biden also stated in later comments that he was confident lawmakers would come together to reach an agreement and avoid a default.
Meanwhile, Wells Fargo’s head of equity strategy Chris Harvey was skeptical that progress has been made in Washington on debt ceiling negotiations.
“We still think the macros are going to start weighing on things. We think people are getting too excited about the debt ceiling in the short term. And we think there’s probably another downside as we go forward,” Harvey said Wednesday on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime.”
“We think it’s going to slow down a bit as we go forward in time,” he continued. “We believe a deal (will) be completed, but we think that’s too optimistic at this point.”
Investors will look to retail giant Walmart’s earnings report on Thursday for insights into consumer health. China-based tech giant Alibaba will also report earnings before the bell.
Wall Street will also be watching the weekly jobless numbers to gauge the strength of the labor market. The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey numbers for May, as well as existing home sales data for April, are also scheduled for release Thursday morning.
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