Stocks poised for weak start
Investors remain hesitant after the recent rally, digest reports on housing starts and jobless claims.
NEW YORK�(CNNMoney.com) -- U.S. stocks were poised for a flat open Thursday, following government reports on the job and housing markets.
At 8:50 a.m. ET, S&P 500, Nasdaq-100 and Dow Jones industrial average futures were slightly lower. Futures had been pointing to a modestly higher open ahead of the reports.
Futures measure current index values against their perceived future performance and offer an indication of how markets may open when trading begins.
Stocks on Wall Street spiked to one-year highs Wednesday amid economic optimism.
A combination of improving economic news and fiscal and monetary stimulus has helped boost stocks over the last six months. Since bottoming at a 12-year low in March, the Dow has gained 47% and the S&P 500 has gained 55%. Since bottoming at a 6-year low, the Nasdaq has gained 65%.
But this is cause for concern rather than celebration, said Philip Isherwood, equities strategist at Evolution Securities in London. He said the markets are being artificially inflated by the massive stimulus from the U.S. and other governments, "rather than realistically reflecting fundamentals."
"At some point you'd expect markets to reconnect with a more muted reality, but short term that isn't the case," said Isherwood. "The market doesn't wait for the economy and it doesn't wait for investors, either."
There could be some volatility ahead of Friday, the day of quadruple witching, when contracts expire on stock index futures, stock index options, stock options and single stock futures.
Economy: Before the opening bell, the government released reports on housing starts, building permits and jobless claims.
The Census Bureau said that housing starts rose 1.5% to an annual rate of 598,000 in August. That was considerably higher than industry experts were predicting: The consensus analyst forecast compiled by Briefing.com was for 583,000 new starts.
Building permits rose 2.7% to 579,000 from a revised 564,000 in July.
The Labor Department also released its weekly report on U.S. jobless claims.
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment dropped to 545,000 in the week ended Sept. 12, the government said, compared to the prior week's revised figure of 577,000. This is less than the 555,000 claims that were expected, according to a consensus of estimates from Briefing.com.
Continuing claims, a measure of those receiving benefits for a week or more, increased by 129,000 to 6.23 million, the government said.
Shortly after the opening bell, the Philadelphia Fed will release its survey of regional manufacturing conditions.
Companies: FedEx (FDX, Fortune 500) reported a drop in earnings and revenue in its first quarter ended Aug. 31. The shipping company reported 58 cents per diluted share, compared to $1.23 a share in the year-ago quarter. The company also reported revenue of $8 billion for the quarter, down 20% from the year-ago figure of $10 billion.
Oracle (ORCL, Fortune 500) reported a drop in quarterly sales late Wednesday, but the company posted higher profit that met expectations.
World markets: Asian stocks soared, with Japan's Nikkei adding 1.7% after the Bank of Japan upgraded its view of the economy. In Europe, major indexes were in positive territory.
Currencies and commodities: The dollar has been sitting at multi-month lows against the euro and the yen. The falling dollar helped push the price of gold to a record high of $1,020.20 an ounce Wednesday. Meanwhile, crude oil prices were flat early Thursday, trading around the $72-a-barrel mark. 
