U.S. stock futures were mostly flat on Thursday, the day after the minutes from the most recent meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee all but confirmed an interest rate hike before the end of 2015.
While only a few policymakers support a rate hike as soon as June, the general consensus was that economic circumstances would allow for the first increase in almost a decade before the end of 2015.
Elsewhere, Wall Street will hope for continued good news in housing data with existing home sales news, but the April numbers badly missed their target. Sales fell 3.3%, as opposed to an expected 1% uptick.
Jobless claims met estimates yet again, and markets looked forward to Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s comments scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.
Here are the final numbers from Thursday on Wall Street:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 18,285.74 (+0.34)
NASDAQ: 5,090.79 (+19.05)
S&P 500: 2,130.82 (+4.97)
