US pre-open: Futures little changed as traders look ahead to Jackson Hole

Wall Street futures were little changed ahead of the bell on Thursday as traders continued to await comments from Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell.

As of 1300 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.07%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.20% and 0.32% firmer, respectively.

The Dow closed 55.52 points higher on Thursday after minutes from the Federal Reserve's July policy meeting indicated that the "vast majority" of central bankers said its September meeting would "likely" be the right time to lower its benchmark interest rate.

With the Fed minutes out of the way, market participants will now turn their attention almost solely to Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole economic symposium in Wyoming on Friday, hoping to gain further insight into the future of US interest rate policy. While traders universall expect the central bank to lower rates at its September meeting, analysts seem to be split when it comes to just how large the reduction may be.

On the macro front, weekly jobless claims data from the Labor Department will be out at 1330 BST, while a preliminary reading of S&P Global's manufacturing, services and composite PMIs was slated for release at 1445 BST, July existing home sales figures will be published at 1500 BST, and the Kansas Federal Reserve's August manufacturing index will follow at 1600 BST.

In the corporate space, software firm Snowflake traded lower in pre-market trading despite beating expectations with its latest quarterly earnings and hiking full-year guidance, while clothing retailer Urban Outfitters also headed south after posting disappointing Q2 same-store sales figures.

Intuit and Ross Stores will both report earnings on Thursday.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com