Investing.com – U.S. futures pointed to a higher opening bell on Thursday as worry of a U.S. military strike on Syria waned.
The S&P 500 futures was up 11 and a half points or 0.44% to 2,652.50 as of 6:44 AM ET (10:44 GMT) while Dow futures increased 98 points or 0.41% to 24,265.0. Meanwhile tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures rose 32 points or 0.49% to 6,625.0.
U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to respond to a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria this week. A missile or air-to-ground attack could provoke a response from Russia, which sparked investor concern on Wednesday, with markets ending the day in the red.
Trump tweeted early Thursday morning that he has not yet decided on an attack.
Shire plc (NASDAQ:SHPG)was among the top gainers in pre-market trading, rising 3.01% while Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) increased 0.19% and Nokia (HE:NOKIA) Corp ADR (NYSE:NOK) inched up 0.18%.
Elsewhere luxury car maker Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) dipped 0.01% while Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited (NYSE:HMY) decreased 5.19% and mining firm Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc (NYSE:FCX) was down 2.67%.
In economic news, the Labor Department will release its weekly count of the number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance at 8:30AM ET (12:30 GMT) Thursday, accompanied by export and import prices.
Investors will also be listening in on Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari, who is participating in a moderated Q&A at 5:00 PM ET (21:00 GMT). His comments follow Fed meeting minutes which showed the central bank remained confident about the growth of the economy and rising inflation.
In Europe stocks were up. Germany’s DAX rose 68 points or 0.55% while in France the CAC 40 increased 18 points or 0.36% and in London, the FTSE 100 was up seven points or 0.11%. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 gained 13 points or 0.40% while Spain’s IBEX 35 inched up six points or 0.06%.
In commodities, gold futures fell 0.88% to $1,348.00 a troy ounce while crude oil futures decreased 0.19% to $66.69 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.31% to 89.50.