Stock Futures Climb, But Citi Shares Sink

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U.S. stock-index futures pushed higher Thursday, but Citigroup shares stumbled after the banking giant failed a portion of the Fed's stress tests.

Today's Markets

As of 7:20 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 28 points, or 0.17%, to 16206, S&P 500 futures climbed 3.3 points, or 0.18%, to 1846 and Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 5.2 points, or 0.15%, to 3578.

The markets have had a shaky past few sessions. The broad S&P 500 has ended in the red for the past three of four sessions, and now sits more than 1% off its record high.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) shares were expected to be a major focus on Wall Street after the No. 3 U.S. bank by assets faced a rejection on the capital plan it released to the Federal Reserve. Four other banks also failed the test, but Citi is by far the biggest U.S. bank to fail.

The economic docket is fairly full on the day, as well.

The Commerce Department's final gross domestic product reading due at 8:30 a.m. ET is forecast to show the U.S. economy expanded at an annual pace of 2.7% in the fourth quarter, up slightly from 2.4% in the last reading.

At the same time, the Labor Department provides its weekly update on the jobs market. Economists expect 325,000 people to have applied for first-time jobless benefits last week, down from 320,000 the week before.

Later, the National Association of Realtors is set to post its report on pending home sales. Signed contracts to buy previously-owned homes are forecast to have held steady in February from the month prior.

The economy took a hit early this year from an intense winter. However, those affects appear to be waning.

Elsewhere,  U.S. crude oil futures rose 33 cents, or 0.33%, to $100.59 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline gained 0.36% to $2.92 a gallon. Gold dropped $9, or 0.69%, to $1,295 a troy ounce.