US pre-open: Stocks seen flat to slightly higher as oil prices gain

US futures pointed to a flat to slightly higher open on Wall Street, with firmer oil prices likely to lend some support.

At 1145 GMT, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 0.1%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were flat. On Wednesday, equities ended mixed as the Federal Reserve hinted at a rate hike.

In its latest minutes, the US central bank said: "Many participants expressed the view that it might be appropriate to raise the Federal Funds rate again fairly soon if incoming information on the labour market and inflation was in line with or stronger than their current expectations, or if the risks of overshooting the committee's maximum-employment and inflation objectives increased."

Meanwhile, oil prices rose after data from the American Petroleum Institute showed a 884,000 barrel drop in US crude supplies last week. Later on Thursday, investors will eye the latest figures from the US Energy Information Administration.

West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude were up 1.3% to $54.33 a barrel and $56.57.

Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex, said: "Looking to the US open and it is hard to see sentiment shifting in any meaningful way. The Dow Jones is set to start the session 10 points higher, putting the index within striking distance of 20800, a level it flirted with on Wednesday. As for data all that is on offer is the usual Thursday jobless claims reading, which is forecast to increase slightly from 239k to 242k."

In corporate news, electric car maker Tesla advanced in pre-market trade after it posted a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss late on Wednesday but beat analysts' expectations on sales.

Victoria's Secret parent L Brands tanked, however, after it issued weak guidance for 2017 late on Wednesday.

Hormel was higher in pre-market trade after it reported first-quarter net earnings per share of 44 cents versus 43 cents a year ago and revenue of $2.28bn compared to $2.29bn.

Kohl’s, Kate Spade and AMC Entertainment Holding are slated to report earnings ahead of the opening bell.

On the data front, initial jobless claims are due at 1330 GMT.