Wall Street set for mixed start amid continued volatility

Wall Street's bad mood may not be entirely over, with Thursday’s session expected to get off a mixed to lower start as volatility continues to shake the market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is forecast to open down another 127 points or 0.41% while the S&P 500 is set for a 0.09% dip. But the Nasdaq Composite is in a better mood and is expected to add 0.31%. After Wednesday's higher than expected rise in the consumer price index to 4.2% compared to the forecast 3.6%, eyes now turn to the producer price index. The PPI - as the name implies a measure of inflation from the perspective of producers rather than consumers - is expected to rise from 4.2% in March to 5.8% last month. Michael Hewson at CMC Markets said: "Factory gate or producer prices tend to be leading indicators for future price rises further down the supply chain and...[a rise to 5.8%] could well be a leading indicator for another big rise in CPI in May." Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said: "After struggling to hold their ground following US CPI data yesterday, markets are bracing themselves for PPI data this afternoon. "For stocks this might be an even tougher moment, given that companies may find themselves struggling to pass on price increases to customers, hitting profitability and putting the year-long earnings recovery in jeopardy.  Fed members have done their best to calm nerves in the wake of the CPI reading, but from the stock market reaction (although interestingly not the bond market’s view) it seems there is still plenty of concern that the rise in prices will not be transitory, and instead will have a meaningful impact on Fed policy in the months to come." There are also weekly US jobless claims, which will be in focus given Friday's disappointing non-farm payroll numbers. They are expected to edge down from 498,000 to 490,000. On the corporate front, Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) is set to release second-quarter results after the market closes, Four things to watch for on Thursday: Big cap firms in the earnings diary include accommodation booking platform Airbnb Inc (NASDAQ:ABNB), crypto trading platform Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ:COIN) and food delivery app DoorDash Inc (NYSE:DASH) Shares in Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) will be in focus after Elon Musk said the electric car maker will no longer accept payments in Bitcoin, citing concerns about the cryptocurrency’s impact on the environment Speaking of electric cars, Chinese firm Xpeng Inc (NYSE:XPEV) could also draw attention after its revenues beat expectations On the macro front, aside from the jobless claims data, there will also be US PPI readings to keep an eye on