US pre-open: Stocks mixed ahead of first day of Q3 trading

Wall Street futures were mixed ahead of the bell on Thursday prior to the release of this week's jobless claims report.

As of 1220 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.04%, while S&P 500 Nasdaq-100 futures were down 0.01% and 0.22%, respectively.

The Dow closed 210.22 points higher on Wednesday, with the blue-chip index closing out the first half on a positive note.

Thursday's primary focus will be this week's jobless claims figures from the Labor Department, scheduled for release at 1330 BST, with economists expecting to see initial claims for unemployment reaching 390,000 in the week ended 19 June.

IG's Chris Beauchamp said: "Stock markets have sprung into life this morning, taking heart from a renewed bullishness in US markets (most notably the Dow), putting equity indices on the front foot as a new quarter gets underway.

"With a whole six months behind us investors have been reminded of how noisy years like 2020 are often followed by quiet ones, and so far comparisons with 2013 and 2017 are still the most appropriate for 2021."

On the macro front, June's Challenger job cuts data will be released at 1230 BST, while last month's Markit manufacturing PMI will be posted at 1445 BST and June's ISM manufacturing PMI construction spending numbers for May will follow at 1500 BST.

In the corporate space, Walgreens Boots posted third-quarter results that exceeded expectations, while McCormick raised its full-year guidance after revenues topped $1.56bn as the firm continued to benefit from at-home cooking.