BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The Jobless Claims for the week, the Leading Indicators for July and PMI Composite Flash Index for August are the highlights on Thursday.
Asian shares finished mostly higher, while European shares are trading broadly lower.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will speak on Challenges for Monetary Policy event in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Friday.
Initial cues from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open moderately higher.
As of 7.50 am ET, the Dow futures were gaining 44.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were up 4.75 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were adding 11.00 points.
U.S. major stocks closed higher on Wednesday. The Dow jumped 240.29 points or 0.9 percent to 26,202.73, the Nasdaq advanced 71.65 points or 0.9 percent to 8,020.21 and the S&P 500 climbed 23.92 points or 0.8 percent to 2,924.43.
On the economic front, the Labor Department's Jobless Claims for the week will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The economists are looking for consensus of 216K while it was 220K in the previous week.
PMI Composite Flash index for August will be issued at 9.45 am ET. The consensus is for 51.9, slightly up from 51.6 in the prior month.
The Conference Board's Leading Indicators for July will be published at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for growth of 0.2 percent, while it declined 0.3 percent in the prior month.
The Energy Information Administration or EIA's Natural Gas Report for the week will be published at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the change was 49 bcf.
Two -year, five year and seven year Treasury Note auction will be held at 11.00 am ET. The 30-year Treasury inflation-indexed securities or TIPS auction will be held at 1.00 pm ET.
The Fed Balance Sheet for the week is expected at 4.30 pm ET. In the previous week, the level was $3.786 trillion.
The Fed Money Supply for week is scheduled at 4.30 pm ET. The M2 weekly change was $23.8 billion.
Asian stocks turned in mostly higher on Thursday. Chinese shares ended a tad higher. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index edged up 3.10 points, or 0.11 percent, to 2,883.44 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended down 0.84 percent at 26,048.72.
Japanese shares ended on a flat note. Both the Nikkei and the broader Topix index gave up initial gains to end the session marginally higher at 20,628.01 and 1,498.06, respectively.
Australian markets finished modestly higher. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index inched up 18.50 points, or 0.29 percent, to 6,501.80 while the broader All Ordinaries index ended up 20.40 points, or 0.31 percent, at 6,593.
European shares are trading broadly lower. CAC 40 of France is down 12.11 points or 0.12 percent. DAX of Germany is progressing 14.11 points or 0.12 percent. FTSE 100 of England is losing 30.96 points or 0.43 percent. Swiss Market Index is declining 32.01 points or 0.33 percent.
Euro Stoxx 50 that provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is down 1.04 percent.
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