US equity futures experienced a downturn before the opening bell on Thursday as traders assessed new information regarding jobless claims and wholesale inflation, following Wednesday's consumer inflation report. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.1%, while S&P 500 futures decreased by 0.3%, and Nasdaq futures dropped by 0.6%.
On Wednesday, the November consumer price index indicated a 0.3% rise in consumer prices, consistent with estimates that had been assembled by Bloomberg, following a prior increase of 0.2%. Oil prices also faced declines, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude falling by 0.1% to $73.42 per barrel, and US West Texas Intermediate crude similarly down by 0.1% to $70.21 per barrel.
New unemployment claims, released at 8:30 am ET, rose to 242,000 for the week ending December 7, up from 225,000 the week before, contrasting sharply with Bloomberg estimates that predicted a reduction to 220,000 claims. Furthermore, final demand for producer prices increased by 0.4% month-over-month in November, compared to a 0.3% gain in the previous month and expectations for only a 0.2% rise.
In other global markets, Japan's Nikkei achieved a closing rise of 1.2%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng and China's Shanghai Composite also finished 1.2% and 0.9% higher, respectively. Conversely, the UK's FTSE 100 remained stable, and Germany's DAX index witnessed a minor gain of 0.1% during Europe's early afternoon session.
In the equities sector, DBV Technologies experienced a notable surge, with shares soaring by 10% prior to opening after the company announced that the US Food and Drug Administration had formalized guidance supporting an expedited approval process for the Viaskin patch, designed for peanut-allergic children aged between one and three years.
However, Keros Therapeutics saw a significant decline, with shares plummeting by 73% following their announcement to voluntarily halt two treatment arms in a phase 2 study of cibotercept, which was combined with background therapy for patients suffering from pulmonary arterial hypertension..