US pre-open: Futures point to another mixed session ahead of earnings deluge

Wall Street futures were pointing to a mixed open on Thursday, with investors continuing to monitor trade developments and earnings.

As of 1215 BST, Dow futures were up 0.22%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were 0.04% and 0.32% lower, respectively.

US stocks turned in a mixed performance on Wednesday as market participants began to look ahead to face-to-face talks between American and Chinese negotiators next week.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.29% at 27,269.97, but the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed at record highs, buoyed by a rally in chip stocks.

Investors were also keeping an eye out for trade developments between the US and China, with negotiators set to meet next week. However, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Wednesday that the two superpowers still had a lot of issues to work out.

Eyes were also likely to be firmly fixed on the European Central Bank's interest rate decision at 1245 BST, with the market betting increasingly on ECB chief Mario Draghi cutting rates and perhaps signalling quantitative easing.

However, Oanda's Craig Erlam said: "One thing that may encourage the ECB to hold off on a rate cut beyond September is that Mario Draghi's term as President ends in September so it would allow his successor to be the one that steers the central bank in a new direction."

On the earnings front, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Comcast, 3M, and Dow were all set to report.

In data news, June's wholesale inventories and durable goods orders will be out at 1330 BST, as will initial jobless claims for the week ended 20 July.