Investing.com – Wall Street futures pointed to a slightly higher open that could lift the Dow back up to the unchanged mark for the week through Thursday after the blue chip index underwent two days of declines.
The blue-chip Dow futures gained 41 points, or 0.20%, at 6:52AM ET (10:52GMT), the S&P 500 futures rose 6 points, or 0.27%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures traded up 18 points, or 0.33%.
Investors would continue to keep an eye on earnings after disappointing earnings from IBM (NYSE:IBM) on Wednesday led the Dow lower.
American Express (NYSE:AXP) was likely to support the index after the credit card company published a smaller-than-expected drop in profit and gave an upbeat guidance for the year.
Verizon (NYSE:VZ) and The Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) were also on the docket to report before the open while Visa (NYSE:V) will release earnings after the close.
The balance so far for earnings has been positive with 77% of the 65 S&P 500 firms that had reported through Wednesday beating profit forecasts and 62% topping sales estimates, according to The Earnings Scout.
In Thursday’s macro data, investors looked ahead to the release of weekly jobless claims and the April Philadelphia Fed survey at 8:30AM ET (12:30GMT), followed by the Conference Board’s leading index for March at 10:00AM ET (14:00GMT).
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six rival currencies, was down around 0.3% at 99.46 by 6:53AM ET (10:53GMT), its deepest trough since March 28.
Geopolitical concerns remained in play after U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Wednesday that Washington was looking at ways to pressure North Korea over its nuclear program.
North Korean state media warned the U.S. of a "super-mighty preemptive strike", saying don't "mess with us" as tensions between the two countries continued to rise.
Meanwhile, oil prices were higher on Thursday, bouncing back from its worst day in six weeks after leading Gulf oil producers Saudi Arabia and Kuwait gave the clearest signal yet that OPEC plans to extend into the second half of the year a deal with non-OPEC producers to curb oil supplies.
Consensus is growing among oil producers that their supply restraint agreement should be extended after its initial six-month term, but there is as yet no agreement, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Thursday.
U.S. crude futures gained 0.94% to $51.33 by 6:54AM ET (10:54GMT), while Brent oil rose 1.08% to $53.50.
In Europe, the focus was on a new opinion poll that indicated that centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron will win the French presidential election, spawning a relief rally in the euro that sent the single currency to its highest level in three weeks.
Investors are fearful over the prospect of a second round run-off between euro skeptics Jean-Luc Melenchon and Marine Le Pen, who both want to put the country’s European Union membership to a vote.
The poll put Macron in the lead with 25% for this Sunday’s first round of voting, followed by a victory over Le Pen in the May 7 follow-up by 66% to 34%.
In otherwise cautious trade, France’s CAC 40 lead the gains in Europe, trading up 0.7% by 6:55AM ET (10:55GMT), while Germany’s DAX traded near the unchanged mark and London’s FTSE 100 dipped 0.2%.
Earlier, in Asia, markets ended mixed in lackluster trade, with the Shanghai Composite in China closing up less than 0.1%, while Japan's Nikkei ended little changed.