US pre-open: Futures in the green as oil prices fall

Wall Street futures were in the green ahead of the bell on Thursday as major indices were on track to regain some of the week's losses.

As of 1225 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.39%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.47% and 0.57% firmer, respectively.

The Dow Jones closed 176.89 points lower on Wednesday but sentiment got a boost in the form of declining global oil prices ahead of the bell and a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, with WTI crude and Brent futures both down more than 2% prior to the open on news that Saudi Arabia may look increase oil production on the back of the European Union's ban of 90% of Russian crude.

AvaTrade's Naeem Aslam said: "US futures are trading soft today while traders keep their eyes on the OPEC meeting today. The fact that Saudi Arabia commented that it could increase the oil supply if the Russian oil supply comes under strain has pushed oil prices lower. Today's meeting will be mainly about the sentiment, not about the actual supply increase.

"Suppose the message is that the world needs not to worry about the Russian oil supply due to sanctions imposed on the country by the US and the EU as Saudi Arabia is ready to step up its efforts. In that case, we could see a completely different OPEC going forward."

On the macro front, May job cuts data from Challenger will be out at 1230 BST, while last month's ADP employment change figures and the Labor Department's weekly jobless claims report will follow at 1315 BST and 1330 BST, respectively.

Elsewhere, April factory orders data will be published at 1500 BST.

In the corporate space, Hormel Foods lowered the top end of its full-year earnings guidance despite seeing record quarterly sales and double-digit earnings growth, while Designer Brands beat Wall Street expectations with its first-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.48 per share on revenues of $830.5m and net income of $26.2m.

Still to come, Lululemon Athletica will report earnings after the close.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com