US pre-open: Stocks called to open higher after Biden lays out infrastructure plan

Wall Street futures were pointing to a mostly positive open before the bell on Thursday ahead of the Good Friday long weekend.

As of 1245 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.04%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.30% and 0.94% firmer, respectively.

The Dow closed points lower on Wednesday following the rollout of President Joe Biden's infrastructure plan.

Biden's multi-trillion dollar proposal, which includes spending on roads and bridges as well as green energy and water system upgrades, was still in focus prior to the open on Thursday.

"With the American Rescue Plan, we're meeting immediate emergencies. Now it's time to rebuild," said Biden.

This week's jobless claims report from the Department of Labor will also be firmly in focus after job cuts from ChallengerGray&Christmas published earlier in the morning fell in March, down from 34,531 in February to 30,603.

Still to come on the macro front, IHS Markit's manufacturing PMI will be in at 1345 BST, while the ISM's manufacturing PMI and construction spending figures for February will follow at 1400 BST.

Fed heads Patrick Harker and Robert Kaplan will deliver comments at 1700 BST and 2205 BST, respectively.

In the corporate space, Microsoft shares were in the green during premarket after revealing it inked a $21.9bn deal to deliver more than 120,000 devices based on its HoloLens augmented reality headset to the US Army.

Micron Technology, which beat earnings expectations in its results last night, and Western Digital were also in focus after the Wall Street Journal revealed the pair were in talks to acquire Japanese semiconductor firm Kioxia for about $30.0bn.