US pre-open: Futures pointing to another positive session on the Street

Stock futures were pointing to yet another positive open on Thursday, with investors seemingly hopeful that an interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve was imminent.

As of 1230 BST, Dow Jones futures were ahead 0.25% at 25,623, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures were calling the indices to open 0.27% and 0.37% higher, respectively.

The Dow looked set to continue its recent pattern of gains on Thursday, having closed 207 points higher during the previous session, and by 511 points on the day before that, for the second best day of the year for stocks.

Wall Street's recent rally was triggered by the shift in markets' focus from global trade concerns to monetary policy, after Fed chair Jerome Powell signalled on Tuesday that the central bank was open to easing monetary policy in order to save the economy.

Powell told an audience in Chicago that the central bank would "act as appropriate to sustain the expansion".

However, trade tensions were still on traders' minds after Trump reignited tensions with China on Thursday, telling reporters at Shannon Airport in Ireland that. if necessary, Washington might impose tariffs on the $300bn-worth of Chinese which had not yet been targeted.

A day earlier, during his state visit to the UK, the President doubled down on tariff threats against Mexico, stating that the new policy would "take effect next week".

During an interview with CNN on Wednesday evening, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro had seemingly left the door open to Mexico avoiding the new trade levies.

"We believe that these tariffs may not have to go into effect precisely because we have the Mexicans' attention," he said.

Investors will also likely be keeping a keen eye on the European Central Bank, which is set to reveal its latest monetary policy decision on Thursday.

In terms of the economic data, initial jobless claims, first quarter productivity and April's international trade figures were scheduled for release at 1330 BST.

On the corporate front, JM Smucker was set to report earnings before the opening bell, with Broadcom and Zumiez also due out with their own earnings figures on Thursday.

And after the close, Beyond Meat was set to post its first set of results as a publicly-listed entity.