US pre-open: Futures trade higher, S&P 500 on course for new record

Wall Street futures were in the green ahead of the bell on Thursday, with the S&P 500 on course to surpass the record high set by the index a week ago.

As of 1230 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.58%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures were 0.48% and 0.45% firmer, respectively.

The Dow closed 71.34 points lower on Wednesday, while the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session at yet another fresh record high.

Thursday's main focus will be this week's jobless claims data from the Labor Department at 1330 BST, with economists expecting the report to reveal that weekly jobless claims fell from 412,000 to 380,000 in the week ended 19 June.

Also on investors' minds will be infrastructure package negotiations in Washington, with a bipartisan group of Senators that claim to have made progress on a plan set to meet with President Joe Biden at the White House, as will the Federal Reserve's yearly bank stress test results, scheduled for release at 2130 BST.

AvaTrade's Naeem Aslam said: "Futures in the United States are trading higher today, indicating positive investor sentiment after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated the Fed's dovish monetary policy stance. Despite admitting that rising inflation is a concern for the Fed, the central bank continues to maintain that it is likely to be temporary and will fall as the supply chain adjusts.

"Stock traders are closely watching macroeconomic reports to see how the Fed will react to the shifting dynamics. Investors are looking forward to seeing the updated unemployment situation by examining the new report on jobless claims, which will be released today. The Federal Reserve's yearly stress test reports are also set to be released today. The report depicts how banks would react to hypothetical economic crises. Following the test, the banks declared how much capital they could release for stock buybacks and dividends."

Also on the macro front, May durable goods orders numbers and first-quarter GDP growth rate figures will be published at 1330 BST.

In the corporate space, Nike and FedEx will both report quarterly earnings throughout the course of the day.