Futures Pointing To Early Strength On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - With traders digesting a surprise monetary policy decision from Europe as well as a slew of U.S. economic data, stocks may move to the upside in early trading on Thursday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a modestly higher open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by 25 points.

The European Central Bank surprised investors by announcing its decision to cut interest rates to record lows amid concerns about deflation and rising tensions with Russia.

Following its monetary policy meeting, the ECB said it is lowering all three of its main interest rates by 10 basis points. The benchmark rate is now 0.05 percent, the rate on the marginal lending facility is now 0.30 percent and the deposit rate is now minus 0.20 percent.

Meanwhile, payroll processor ADP released a report showing another notable increase in U.S. private sector employment in the month of August, although the pace of job growth once again came in below economist estimates.

ADP said private sector employment rose by 204,000 jobs in August following a downwardly revised increase of 212,000 jobs in July.

Economists had been expecting an increase of about 220,000 jobs compared to the addition of 218,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

A separate report from the Labor Department showed that first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by slightly more than expected in the week ended August 30th.

Additionally, the Commerce Department released a report showing that the U.S. trade deficit unexpectedly came in slightly narrower in the month of July.

Not long after the start of trading, the Institute for Supply Management is also scheduled to release its report on service sector activity in the month of August.