US pre-open: Futures flat ahead of weekly jobless data

Wall Street futures were pointing to a fairly flat start to trading ahead of the bell on Thursday as market participants awaited this week's jobless report.

As of 1240 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.12%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures were trading 0.06% and 0.02% higher, respectively.

The Dow closed 220.30 points higher on Wednesday as market participants thumbed over key inflation data from the Department of Labor.

Thursday's primary focus, seemingly as always, will be on this week's jobless claims data from the Department of Labor at 1330 BST, with economists expecting to see initial jobless claims fall week-on-week from 385,000 to 375,000.

Also on investors' minds, July producer prices figures will also be released at 1330 BST, with the PPI expected to have gained 0.6% month-on-month, moderating from the 1% pace seen back in June.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was trading slightly higher at 1.362% ahead of the report.

AvaTrade's Naeem Aslam said: "US stock futures are trading mostly higher today as traders feel a lot more released after the release of a highly awaited US inflation report. The data showed that the rapid surge in consumer prices over the last few months has to flattened out now."

In the corporate space, Walt Disney, Door Dash and Airbnb will all report earnings after the close.