US pre-open: Futures in the green as Q3 bank earnings continue to roll in
Wall Street futures were trading higher ahead of the bell on Thursday as more major US banks report their quarterly earnings ahead of the Labor Department's jobless claims report later in the morning.
As of 1230 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.66%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.75% and 0.84% firmer, respectively.
The Dow closed just 0.53 points lower on Wednesday after minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's meeting last month indicated that the central bank may begin its tapering process as soon as mid-November.
As always, Thursday's primary focus will be the Labor Department's weekly jobless claims report at 1330 BST, with economists expecting to see a further 320,000 Americans filing for new claims in the week ended 9 October.
Corporate results will also be in focus on Thursday, with earnings from Walgreens Boots Alliance, Bank of America, US Bancorp, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Domino's Pizza, Morgan Stanley and United Health all on deck.
On the macro front, the jobless claims report will be published at 1330 BST, as will September's PPI, while last month's Federal budget statement was slated for release at 1900 BST.
Federal Reserve presidents Raphael Bostic, Thomas Barkin and John Williams will all deliver speeches throughout the course of the day.
Elsewhere in the company space, Carnival shares were in the green, as were MGM Resorts, as stocks tied to an economic recovery gained in pre-market, while UPS traded higher following an upgrade from analysts at Stifel due to upcoming holiday demand.