Investing.com – Wall Street was set to open higher on Thursday as investors wait for economic data later in the day.
The S&P 500 futures rose over four and a half points or 0.18% as of 6:45 AM ET (11:45 GMT) while Dow futures increased 31 points or 0.13%. Meanwhile tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures was up over six points or 0.09%.
Investors will be watching for signs of an expanding economy when U.S. Gross Domestic Product is released at 8:30 AM ET (13:30 GMT). Worries over tepid inflation have sparked concern that the Federal Reserve will limit rate increases next year.
In other news, Congress delivered the biggest tax overhaul in 30 years to U.S. President Donald Trump’s desk on Wednesday. The tax bill cuts corporate taxes to 21% from 35%, which some say would encourage companies to spend more, boosting the economy.
Telecommunications firm Nokia (HE:NOKIA) Corp was among the top gainers in pre-market trading, rising 2.38% after it signed a patent licensing deal with handset maker Huawei. Payments processing firm Net Element Inc (NASDAQ:NETE) continued to surge 54.77% on news that it is entering cryptocurrency.
Elsewhere Deutsche Bank AG (DE:DBKGn) NA O.N. (NYSE:DB) fell 1.37% after it announced it was cutting 1,000 jobs as part of an integration with retail arm Postbank. Consumer goods company Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) decreased 0.99% while metals firm First Majestic Silver Corp (NYSE:AG) dipped 2.05%
In Europe stocks were up. Germany’s DAX rose 14 points or 0.11% while in France the CAC 40 increased three points or 0.06% and in London, the FTSE 100 inched forward 27 points or 0.36%. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 was up two points or 0.08% while Spain’s IBEX 35 gained 11 points or 0.11%.
In commodities, gold futures fell 0.08% to $1,268.60 a troy ounce while crude oil futures decreased 0.19% to $57.98 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, rallied 0.06% to 93.00.