US pre-open: Futures mostly flat ahead of final day of trading for 2020

Wall Street futures were slightly higher ahead of the bell on Thursday as market participants prepared for the year's final day of trading.

As of 1235 GMT, Dow Jones futures were up 0.05%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures were 0.09% and 0.16% firmer, respectively.

The Dow closed 73.89 points higher on Wednesday, reversing losses recorded in the previous session.

Thursday's main focus will be this week's jobless claims report from the Labor Department at 1330 GMT, with economists expecting to see a print of 828,000, a slight decrease from the prior week's reading.

Also in focus was news that the US government will raise tariffs on certain European goods such as French and German wines amid a long-running dispute over aircraft subsidies.

Aircraft components made in the EU would also be hit, according to the Office of the US Trade Representative, adding to the list of products taxed since 2019. The 27-member EU and US have been in dispute over subsidies for aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing for 16 years.

AvaTrade's Naeem Aslam said: "There is not much life left in the Dow Jones futures as volume has dropped significantly because traders are away for a holiday period. Today's price action is more likely to be even more lacklustre due to the year's final trading, and many traders will be busy in the early celebrations of New Year.

"2020 has been an incredibly intriguing year for the stock market as we have seen one of the sharpest decline in the US stock market as the major indices plunged over 30% in mid-March earlier this year. And following that, we experienced one of the fastest recoveries for the US equity markets."

No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Thursday.