Stocks appear poised to extend their recent sell-off in early trading on Thursday despite the release of upbeat U.S. jobs data. The major index futures are currently pointing to a sharply lower open for the markets, with the Dow futures down by 187 points.
Ongoing concerns about global economic growth are likely to continue to weigh on the markets along with worries about an expansion of the Ebola outbreak in the U.S.
Traders seem to have shrugged off a report from the Labor Department showing that initial jobless claims unexpectedly fell to their lowest level in over fourteen years in the week ended October 11th.
The report said initial jobless claims fell to 264,000, a decrease of 23,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 287,000. The decrease came as a surprise to economists, who had expected jobless claims to edge up to 290,000.
With the unexpected decrease, jobless claims fell to their lowest level since hitting 259,000 in the week ended April 15, 2000.