Weekly U.S. jobless claims, U.S. housing starts for December and an update of the U.S. Drought Monitor are due out at 7:30 a.m. CST Thursday. The Energy Department's report on natural gas storage will be out at 9:30 a.m., followed by the weekly energy inventory report at 10 a.m. Traders continue to monitor South American weather and news from the Middle East.
Weather
A clipper system is moving through South Dakota early this morning, bringing a band of light to moderate snow through the Northern Plains. The system will continue southeast through Iowa Thursday and into the eastern Midwest overnight into Friday. An arctic blast of cold will follow behind the clipper for a couple of days, though temperatures out ahead of it are closer to normal in a reprieve from yesterday.