US pre-open: Market set to open higher despite oil, China

US futures were set to rebound somewhat despite unstable oil prices and China’s markets tumbling.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was set to open up 24 points, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were expected to start the session three and five points higher, respectively.

Initial job claims data will be released at 1330 GMT, alongside durable goods data at the same time, followed up the house price purchase index at 1400 GMT.

China tumbles amid mixed markets

Elsewhere, China tumbled amid mixed results in Asia on Thursday, as concerns about market liquidity in the People's Republic increased ahead of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Shanghai.

Analysts said the selloff was sudden, and reflected worries about tighter liquidity in the market and withdrawal of cash by investors who had been hammered by several months of serious volatility.

It was also inconvenient timing for China's politburo, which was preparing to host leaders of the world's largest economies for the two day meeting beginning on Friday.

China was expected to address the widespread anxiety about the state of its economy and financial markets at the meeting.

"Retail investors haven’t recovered from the stock market disaster early this year while institutions are incentivized to take profits once market recovers a bit,” said Guotai Junan Securities analyst Zhang Xin.

European stocks pushed higher, rebounding from heavy losses in the previous session following a late recovery on Wall Street, as investors waded through a deluge of earnings.

West Texas Intermediate was down 0.43% to $32.01 a barrel, while Brent was slightly down 0.67% to $34.18.

The dollar fell 0.47% against the pound and 0.22% against the euro, but rose 0.26% against the yen. Spot gold was up 0.36% to $1,233.57.

In company news, shares in Best Buy dropped 3% after sentiment from fourth quarter results above expectations and new capital return measures were offset by a downbeat profit outlook.

Investors will also be keeping an eye on Kohl’s after it posted a 20% drop in fourth quarter profit and announced plans to close underperforming locations.