There are some important events taking place on Thursday that could affect trading.
GAMESTOP: Watch shares of the video-game retailer were approved by the board after the company's board approved a four-for-one stock split. In extended trading, the shares rose by almost 6% to $124.49.
In 2021, GameStop shares went up more than 680% as retail traders snapped up heavily shorted stocks in a bid to squeeze out hedge funds betting against them, as they went up more than 680% during the meme stock trading frenzy.
JOBLESS CLAIMS: Data on jobs and international trade is on the table Thursday morning. For the last week, the Labor Department was out of work with its count of new claims for unemployment benefits. Expectations are for 230,000, little changed from 231,000 the previous week and holding slightly above pre-pandemic levels.
The number of workers who are receiving unemployment benefits is expected to fall for the second week in a row to 1.327 million.
The Commerce Department is out of business with the U.S. trade balance for May. The monthly deficit in goods and services is expected to narrow for a second month to $84.9 billion. It compares with a record $107.65 billion deficit in March on huge demand for imported goods, as well as rising prices tied to inflation.
The earnings spotlight will be on Levi Strauss and WD-40 after the bell.
The Energy Information Administration released its inventory report last week. Crude stockpiles are expected to fall by a little more than a million barrels, after a decline of almost 3 million barrels the previous week. Watch for a build of more than 1.1 million barrels in distillate supplies heating oil and diesel fuel and a draw of nearly half a million barrels in gasoline inventories.