U.S. stock futures point to flat start, but perils lie ahead

U.S. stock benchmarks were poised to open near unchanged Thursday amid ongoing turmoil surrounding Britain’s attempt at an orderly exit from the European Union, which may prove a source of turbulence for Wall Street. Investors also digested late Wednesday comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for clues on monetary policy

How did the benchmarks fare?

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average

YMZ8, -0.22%

are virtually unchanged at 25,042 while S&P 500 index futures

ESZ8, -0.36%

are also flat at 2,698. Nasdaq-100 futures

NQZ8, -0.13%

climbed 14 points, or 0.2%, to 6,780.

On Wednesday, the Dow

DJIA, -0.48%

fell 205.99 points, or 0.8% to 25,080.50, its fourth decline in row, the longest such streak since Aug. 13, according to FactSet data.

The S&P 500 index

SPX, -0.53%

ESZ8, -0.36%

dropped 20.6 points, or 0.8%, to 2,701.58 and the Nasdaq Composite Index

COMP, -0.15%

 shed 64.48 points, or 0.9%, to 7,136.39.

What drove the market?

U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May’s leadership and her plans for an organized exit from the European Union are being called into question less than 24 hours after she said she had received the approval of her cabinet for a draft Brexit plan. On Thursday, Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab resigned, followed by cabinet minister Esther McVey. A so-called hard Brexit, where Britain leaves the European trade bloc in March without a trade pact in place could lead to turbulence across the broader financial world, market participants worry.

Meanwhile, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said the U.S. faced global headwinds but that he was “very happy about the state of the economy,” in a public discussion with Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan late-Wednesday. The markets are attuned to the Fed boss’s thoughts, in light of growing fears of policy makers making a mistake as they attempt to normalize interest rates.

Read: Fed rate hikes are now ‘hurting asset prices,’ says billionaire investor Ray Dalio

What data and speakers are in focus?

• First-time jobless claims for the week ending Nov. 10 rose 2,000 to 216,000 in the week ended Nov. 10, slightly above the consensus forecast of 210,000 produced a MarketWatch survey of economists.
• Retail sales rose 0.8% in October, the government said, topping expectations for a rise of 0.6%.
• The Philly Fed index dropped 9.3 points to 12.9, a three-month low.
• The Empire State index rose 2.2 points to 23.3 in November.
• At 10 a.m., a September reading of business inventories is scheduled.
• Fed Vice Chairman for Supervision Randal Quarles is set to deliver a speech at 10 a.m.
• Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari will participant in a talk at 3 p.m.

What are strategists saying?

“A rebound attempt is shaping up as the futures point to a higher opening ahead of key macro data and turmoil in Great Britain over the Brexit deal,” wrote Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital, in a Thursday note.

Which stocks were in focus?

Cisco Systems Inc.