Futures Pointing To Roughly Flat Open On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - After trending higher over the past few sessions, stocks may show a lack of direction in early trading on Thursday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by just 11 points.

Trading activity is likely to be relatively subdued on the day, contributing to a lackluster performance by the broader markets.

Many traders are likely to get a head start on the upcoming three-day weekend, as the markets will close earlier than usual.

The markets are scheduled to close at 1 pm ET this afternoon in honor of Christmas Eve and remain closed for all of Christmas Day on Friday.

On the U.S. economic front, the Labor Department recently released a report showing that initial jobless claims fell by more than expected in the week ended December 19th.

The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 267,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week's revised level of 272,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 270,000 from the 271,000 originally reported for the previous week.