USDA's weekly export sales report is due out at 7:30 a.m. CST, along with weekly jobless claims, a report on fourth-quarter productivity and an update of the U.S. Drought Monitor. U.S. factory orders for December are at 9 a.m., followed by the U.S. Energy Department's weekly report on natural gas storage at 9:30 a.m. Traders remain glued to the latest weather forecasts and any change in Ukraine's situation.
Weather
A major winter precipitation event continues on Thursday. Widespread moderate to heavy mixed precipitation has been falling from the Central and Southern Plains into the Midwest since late Tuesday along a stalled arctic cold front. The precipitation continues on Thursday but we will see it ending in the Plains and more wintry precipitation moving into the Northeast as the cold front slowly sags south and east. Moderate to heavy rainfall south of the front will cause some flood risks in the Tennessee Valley as well. Arctic cold temperatures continue to fill in behind the front across the rest of the country, with some of the coldest air of the season working down into the Southern Plains.