Wall Street Set to Open Flat Thursday; Initial Jobless Claims Higher Than Expected

US stocks look set to open flat in Thursday's trading session as weekly initial jobless claims rose more than expected.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 0.06%, S&P 500 futures were off 0.03%, and Nasdaq futures were nudging 0.05% lower.

Initial jobless claims, which measure the number of people who filed for unemployment insurance for the first time during the past week, rose more than expected to 224,000 from 215,000. Analysts were expecting the figures to remain unchanged, according to Bloomberg.

Oil prices were moving higher with front-month global benchmarks Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate crude rising 0.69% and 0.80% respectively.

In other world markets, Japan's Nikkei rose 0.30%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.92%, and China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.12%. Meanwhile in Europe's early afternoon session, the UK's FTSE 100 was off 0.12 %, Germany's DAX was up 0.33% and France's CAC was nudging 0.05% higher.

In equities, shares of PainReform (PRFX) were soaring 101% in Thursday's premarket session following a 6% loss Wednesday. Protara Therapeutics' (TARA) stock shot up 99% after it reported positive results Thursday from a phase 2 trial assessing the company's investigational cell-based therapy in patients with high-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. Bluejay Diagnostics (BJDX) shares jumped 71% after it said in a regulatory filing Thursday that it has regained compliance with a Nasdaq listing rule. Shares of Psyence Biomedical (PBM) surged 30%, more than erasing Wednesday's 11% loss. And Verint Systems' (VRNT) stock climbed 19% higher after it reported Wednesday higher fiscal Q3 revenue from a year earlier.

On the losing side, shares of SRM Entertainment (SRM) tumbled 32%, eating into Wednesday's 84% gain. Cyclerion Therapeutics (CYCN) shares shed 30% after skyrocketing 294% the previous day. Celcuity (CELC) shares fell 20% after rising 1.4% Wednesday. Upexi (UPXI) stock dropped 19%, following a 36% gain on Wednesday. And shares of Caleres (CAL) dropped 16% after it reported lower fiscal Q3 adjusted earnings and net sales from a year earlier, and trimmed its fiscal 2024 adjusted earnings per share guidance.