Benzinga | Mar 18, 2021 04:41PM EDT

What's Moving The Market Thursday?

Top News

* The U.S. Initial Jobless Claims increased from 712,000 in the previous week to 770,000 in the current week.

* The U.S. Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index increased from 23.1 in February to 51.8 in March.

* Bond yields spiked as the Federal Reserve Chairman, Jerome Powell, said Wednesday he sees no need to change rates and will continue with the current asset purchase program, $80 billion in treasuries and $40 billion in mortgage-based securities per month.

* U.S. democrats seeked a progressive tax on financial transactions, no details disclosed.

* The U.S. prepared an announcement of a deal to distribute vaccines to Canada and Mexico, expected to be formally announced in coming days.

* The European Medicines Agency concluded the benefits outweigh the risks of the AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) COVID-19 vaccine.

* Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) signed agreement with the National Football League, for future broadcasts, in a deal valued at over $100 billion.

* Nike (NYSE:NKE) reported mixed Q3 results, and announced they will resume their share buyback plan in Q4 2021.

Indices Around The Globe

* S&P 500 Futures traded down to 3,900, before bouncing higher. Down 1.22% for the session

* UK's FTSE 100 up 0.25% to near 6,779.

* Japan's Nikkei 225 up 1.01% to near 30,216.

Bonds

* 10-year treasury yield at 1.71%

Commodities

* Crude oil down 7.74% to near $59.63/barrel.

* Gold up 0.35% to near $1,733/oz.

* Silver up 0.08% to near $26.08/oz.

Crypto

* Bitcoin down 1.60% over the last 24 hours to near $57,366.

Preview For Friday, March 19

* Baker Hughes Rig Count - 1 p.m. EDT.

* Ireland's decision on the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine - time unknown.