US pre-open: Stocks set for positive open as oil rises

Stocks on Wall Street looked set for a positive open on Thursday amid rising oil prices, as investors looked to the release of some key data.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 76 points or 0.5% while S&P 500 futures were eight points or 0.4% firmer.

Strengthening oil prices helped to lift the mood, with West Texas Intermediate up 3.3% at $31.66 a barrel and Brent crude 2.6% firmer at $35.38.

Prices surged on Wednesday after Iran unexpectedly backed Saudi Arabia and Russia’s plan to freeze production at January levels. Still, Iran did not offer to take any action itself.

“Despite the fact that many members have nodded to keep their production at January levels or in other words at their record levels, the supply and demand equation will take some time to balance,” said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at AvaTrade.

“The Brent price has failed to break above its recent high of $36 despite the recent OPEC meeting. It appears that the price requires an astounding catalyst to break above this level and the upcoming crude inventory data due today could provide this.”

The Energy Information Administration will report crude oil stocks data later in the session.

European stocks were firmly in the black, with the main indices up at least 1% each.

In corporate news, IBM was on the front foot after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to ‘overweight’.

Chip maker Nvidia was also in the black after its full year revenue beat expectations.

On the downside, Wal-Mart shares slumped in pre-market trade after the retailer’s fourth quarter sales missed expectations.

Perrigo was also under pressure after the drug maker’s fourth quarter profit fell short of analysts’ estimates.

Dish Network was flat as the satellite television operator posted a drop in 2015 earnings.

On the data front, investors will be eyeing the release of US initial jobless claims and the Philadelphia Fed survey at 1330 GMT, and leading indicators at 1500 GMT.

Jobless claims are expected to show a 6,000 increase to 275,000 last week.

The dollar was 0.2% higher against the euro, 0.6% weaker versus the pound and 0.3% lower against the yen.