US pre-open: Futures point to solid gains ahead of jobless figures
US futures were pointing to some solid gains at the bell on Thursday as oil prices rebounded ahead of the government's jobless claims report later in the day.
As of 1225 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 1.22%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 1.39% and 1.35% firmer, respectively.
The Dow closed 218.45 points weaker on Wednesday as major US indices turned a mixed performance, bringing an end to a rally that started on Monday following some dismal payroll figures.
Energy stocks were higher in pre-market trading as West Texas Intermediate prices shot up 8.34% to just under $26 a barrel, while shares in the likes of Hilton Worldwide and MGM Resorts were trading higher ahead of the bell as market participants continued to bet on the reopening of the US economy.
The main focus of Thursday's session will be the latest report on jobless claims from the Department of Labor at 1330 BST, with another 3.05m Americans expected to have filed for unemployment benefits over the last week - bringing the total over the last six weeks to roughly 33m.
Oanda's Craig Erlam said: "As governments prepare to gradually ease lockdown measures, assets that have been savaged by the crisis are starting to look attractive once again. There is still an enormous amount of uncertainty in the global economy right now, not least the potential for measures to be reinforced should the lifting of restrictions prompt another spike that threatens to overwhelm healthcare systems.
"That's not proving much of a deterrent though. Stocks are still trading at a heavy discount and now they have trillions of extra dollars of stimulus behind them, like fuel on the fire. This was always likely to eventually make a rebound far more explosive than it should otherwise be. We're going to hear a lot of "these markets make no sense" over the coming months as we plunge into recession and unemployment goes through the roof. This is why."
Also in focus, data from China overnight also gave investors some reason to be bullish as the Caixin survey of services came in at 44.4 in April - a small improvement on the 43 registered a month earlier.
Chinese exports surprisingly increased by 3.5% but imports were down 14.2%. However, export numbers were believed to be largely driven by huge demand for personal protective equipment and medical goods - meaning the numbers might not be quite as positive as they appeared to be on the surface.
On the macro front, challenger job cuts data will be out at 1230 BST, while the all-important initial jobless claims report will follow at 1330 BST.
Consumer credit figures will be released at 2000 BST and Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia head Patrick Harker will deliver a speech at 2100 BST.
In corporate news, JetBlue Airways, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean Cruises and Dropbox will all post earnings on Thursday.