US pre-open: Traders wary ahead of data barrage, Fedpseak
Wall Street's main market gauges are expected to find a modest bid at the start of trading following the previous few days' selling pressure, the fresh economic news on tap allowing.
In particular, overnight US senator Ron Johnson said he would not support Senate Republicans' tax package. That meant it would now suffice for just two other senators to pull their support to keep the plan from being approved by the start of December.
A barrage of economic data was also due out before the opening bell on Thursday.
Against that backdrop, as of 1144 GMT the Dow Jones Industrials mini contract was trading 50.00 points higher to 23,312.00, alongside a 7.75 point gain for the equivalent S&P 500 contract to 2,572.75 and a 25.00 point advance in that for the Nasdaq-100.
Yet traders were cautious, despite the very positive seasonals for the stockmarket that were typically 'in-play' in the final stretch of the year.
On that note, Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, told clients: "Wednesday's sell-off suggested that investors had lost a little faith in the two month long rally that saw indices make new record highs almost every day. While they still look vulnerable to a small pull-back, it would appear investors are not quite ready to concede yet.
"Stocks have come off another strong earnings season and with Trump's tax reform plan running into difficulties in Congress, it seems investors are using the opportunity to lock in some profit."
At 1330 GMT, the Department of Labor was set to report on initial weekly jobless claims and import prices for October, alongside a report on mid-Atlantic manufacturing conditions for November, courtesy of the Federal Reserve bank of Philadelphia.
Following that initial volley, a reading on industrial production last month was to follow at 1415 GMT, together with the NAHB's housing market index for November at 1500 GMT.
Fed speakers were also expected to be out and about, with Cleveland Fed chief Loretta Mester set to speak at a conference hosted by the Cato institute in Washington DC at 1410 GMT, followed by her peers at the Dallas and San Francisco Feds at 1810 GMT and 2145 GMT, respectively.