US pre-open: Investors hope to break three-day losing streak

US stock futures edged higher on Thursday, as investors hope to break a three-day streak of losses.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is expected to open up approximately 0.2%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are both set to begin the session up 0.2%.

All eyes will be on the US initial jobless claims and continuing claims data out at 1330 GMT as well as the household change in net worth data due at 1700 GMT.

The monthly budget statement will also be released at 1900 GMT.

Asian markets muted ahead of Fed decision

Elsewhere, central banks and interest rates were the focus in Asia on Thursday, a week before the all-important December decision from the US Federal Reserve.

This general downturn in Asian equities was put down to investors pocketing their money, in case of any post-Fed rates rise shocks.

"The general sentiment is that they're positioning for next week. The market's trying to get ahead of a possibly volatile reaction", said Evan Lucas, market strategist at IG in Australia.

Federal fund futures weren't hiding anything either, with the CME Group pricing in an 87% probability of a rate increase next week.

"The short-term impact is always negative with rate hikes on the rest of emerging markets, including China, and that still seems to be the case", said Nicholas Yeo of Aberdeen Asset Management.

European stocks slipped, while oil prices were split, with West Texas Intermediate dipping 0.22% to $37.08 a barrel while Brent crude bubbled up 0.30% to $40.23 a barrel.

The dollar was ahead against the main currencies, gaining 0.65% and 0.29% against the euro and the pound respectively but dropping 0.16% against the yen, while spot gold rose 0.12% to $1,074.10.

In company news, Men’s Wearhouse was a big faller in pre-market trading, down 20.84% after reporting a third quarter loss of $27.1m.

First Solar is expected to open down 10.52% after the solar-power company released an uninspiring sales guidance late yesterday.

And traders will be keeping an eye on Atlassian Corp after it priced its initial public offering higher than expected on Wednesday evening.