US pre-open: Futures have stocks building on solid gains

Wall Street futures were in the green ahead of the bell on Thursday as major indices look to build on solid gains recorded in the previous session.

As of 1220 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.62%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.60% and 0.55% firmer, respectively.

The Dow closed 323.35 points higher on Wednesday, with the tech sector leading the way as banking sector fears took a back seat.

Thursday's primary talking point will be America's latest GDP update, with economists expecting to see the US economy grow 2.7% in the fourth quarter, with a stable GDP price index at around 3.9%.

Swissquote's Ipek Ozkardeskaya said: "If you look at the equity markets today, you could hardly guess that there is still a bank stress going on underneath, which threatens credit availability and calls for a potential recession. The falling yields, and more importantly the waning volatility on bonds help keeping the bulls in charge.

"If attention could finally shift to economic data, and economic data is not ideal, we could see the winds change rapidly direction in sovereign bonds pricing. And when I talk about unideal economic data, I really think of a sticky inflation – which would require further rate hikes from the Federal Reserve, and other central banks."

Elsewhere, the benchmark ten-year Treasury note was slightly lower at 3.569%, while its two-year counterpart edged up slightly to approximately 4.08%

On the macro front, fourth-quarter PCE and GDP figures will be published at 1230 BST, as will weekly jobless claims data from the Labor Department.

Federal Reserve bankers Thomas Barkin, Susan Collins, and Neil Kashkari will all deliver speeches throughout the afternoon, while investors will also hear from US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com