Investing.com - Wall Street futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Thursday as earnings continued to roll out positive surprises and investors looked ahead a deluge of data.
The blue-chip Dow futures gained 31 points, or 0.17%, by 6:50AM ET (10:50GMT), the S&P 500 futures rose 3 points, or 0.12%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures traded up 6 points, or 0.13%.
Market participants will continue to digest corporate numbers after eight out the 13 S&P 500 companies reporting earnings during Wednesday’s session managed to beat estimates.
With a total 70 companies in the S&P 500 having reported earnings through Wednesday morning, 80% have topped expectations. Analysts now expect the components of the benchmark index to break a five quarter losing streak.
Among Dow components, American Express (NYSE:AXP) will likely add to the bullish sentiment in stocks as its shares surged more than 6% in pre-market trade Thursday on the back of an increased profit forecast released with better-than-expected revenue after the market close a day earlier.
Other blue chip firms scheduled to report earnings on Thursday include Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) and Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ).
Additionally, investors will also digest a slew of economic reports out on Thursday starting with weekly jobless claims and the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index for October at 8:30AM ET (12:30GMT).
At 10:00AM ET (14:00GMT), September existing home sales and the Conference Board’s leading index for the same month will be released.
With regard to the U.S. central bank, New York Fed chief William Dudley has a busy schedule with appearances throughout the day.
Late Wednesday, Dudley made it clear that he expects the Fed to hike rates this year.
December remained the markets’ best bet for a move with odds standing at 64.8%, according to Investing.com’s Fed Rate Monitor Tool.
Meanwhile, oil prices slumped around 1% on Thursday as traders locked in profits following a rally in the previous session when the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported an unexpectedly large U.S. oil inventory drawdown last week.
Crude rallied on Wednesday, with U.S. crude settling at a 15-month high after the EIA said U.S. oil inventories fell by 5.2 million barrels last week, compared to forecasts for a stockpile build of 2.7 million barrels.
Oil was also under pressure as a committee meeting which would could the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) that non-OPEC member Russia would also attend neared at the end of next week in Vienna.
The October 28-29 gathering was set up to hammer out preliminary details of the expected output cut at OPEC’s official meeting on November 30, but analysts were skeptical of their capability to reach a meaningful agreement and doubts over a Russia’s participation weighed on prices.
U.S. crude futures fell 1.00% to $51.30 by 6:53AM ET (10:53AM GMT), while Brent oil lost 1.03% to $52.13.
Elsewhere, eyes were on the European Central Bank's latest interest rate decision due at 11:45GMT (7:45AM ET) on Thursday, with most of the focus likely to be on president Mario Draghi's press conference 45 minutes after the announcement.
The ECB is not expected to move on rates, but Draghi could offer fresh clues on the time frame of its €80 billion monthly asset-buying program, due to run out in March.
A recent Reuters poll of economists showed that a stable but lackluster economic outlook will push the ECB to extend its stimulus program by year-end, although such a move will likely be reserved for December’s meeting when the central bank’s updated quarterly projections will be available.
Ahead of the events, the euro was trading unchanged at a three-month low against the dollar.
European stocks were also mostly flat, holding onto slight gains, in anticipation of the monetary policy announcement.
Earlier, Asian stocks closed higher on Thursday, propelled by strong U.S. earnings and oil prices near a 15-month high a day earlier, as the third and final U.S. presidential debate before the Nov. 8 election ended.