Investing.com – Wall Street futures pointed to a second day of gains at the open on Thursday as investors waited for data to confirm the upbeat outlook given the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) statement on its monetary policy decision released a day earlier and continued to digest a deluge of earnings reports.
The blue-chip Dow futures rose 65 points, or 0.31%, at 7:10AM ET (11:10GMT), the S&P 500 futures gained 7 points, or 0.29%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures traded up 19 points, or 0.35%.
While leaving interest rates unchanged in the U.S on Wednesday, the Fed said it "views the slowing in growth during the first quarter as likely to be transitory" adding that it believes the fundamentals underpinning continued growth of consumption continued to be solid.
Investors took the upbeat stance to heart and increased bets for a rate hike in June to around 70%, from about 60% prior to the release of the statement, according to Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool.
In that light, attention will shift to economic data as market players look to confirm the second quarter rebound.
Although weekly jobless claims will be the major focus on Thursday ahead of the following day’s employment report, they will also be accompanied by international trade for March, along with first quarter nonfarm productivity and unit labor costs all released at 8:30AM ET (12:30GMT).
March factory orders will then be due at 10:00AM ET (14:00GMT).
Eyes will also be on earnings as the first quarter reporting season continues to spew out numbers and enters the final phase of what has so far been a positive period.
377 out of the 500 S&P first had reported as of Wednesday with 67% topping sales estimates and 75% beating consensus on earnings-per-share, according to The Earnings Scout.
Putting a damper on the positive momentum, shares of both Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) were down more than 1% in pre-market trade on Thursday after reporting quarterly numbers.
The social media giant beat on both the top and bottom line, though it appeared that some investors were taking profit after a rally that took shares up 32% over concern of future revenue sources.
The automaker, for its part, managed to more than double its revenue, but was still hit by the fact that losses widened, missing estimates.
Kellogg (NYSE:K), Viacom (NASDAQ:VIAB) and Dunkin Brands (NASDAQ:DNKN) were among firms set to report before the bell on Thursday, while the likes of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI), CBS (NYSE:CBS) or El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) would release results after the close.
Meanwhile, oil prices slumped on Thursday, with the barrel of Brent struggling to maintain $50, as concern over a global supply glut lingered after data showed U.S. crude stockpiles fell less than expected last week
U.S. crude futures fell 1.19% to $47.25 by 7:12AM ET (11:12GMT), while Brent oil lost 1.12% to $50.22. The London barrel hit a low of $50.02 earlier on Thursday.