BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - Second quarter GDP, International Trade in Goods report for July and Jobless Claims are the main focus on Thursday.
Asian shares finished mixed, while European shares are trading higher.
Earlier signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might experience a surge at the opening.
As of 8.01 am ET, the Dow futures were gaining 261 points, the S&P 500 futures were up 27.50 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were adding 91.50 points.
The U.S. major averages finished positive on Wednesday. The Dow jumped 258.20 points or 1 percent to 26,036.10, the Nasdaq rose 29.94 points or 0.4 percent to 7,856.88 and the S&P 500 climbed 18.78 points or 0.7 percent to 2,887.94.
On the economic front, the Commerce Department's Gross Domestic Product for the second quarter will be revealed at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 2.0 percent, while it was up 2.1 percent in the prior quarter.
Census Bureau's International Trade in Goods for July will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for a deficit of $74.4 billion, compared to deficit of $74.2 billion in the prior month.
The Labor Department's Jobless Claims for the week will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The economists are looking for consensus of 225K while it was 239K in the previous week.
Corporate Profits report for the second quarter will be revealed at 8.30 am ET. The after tax profits in the prior quarter was up 2.3 percent.
National Association of Realtors' Pending Home Sales Index for July will be released at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for a decline of 0.3 percent, while it grew 2.8 percent in the prior month.
The Energy Information Administration or EIA's Natural Gas Report for the week will be revealed at 10.30 am ET. In the previous week, the change was up 59 bcf.
Seven year Treasury Note 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 at $3.765 trillion.
The Fed Money Supply for the week is scheduled at 4.30 pm ET. The M2 weekly change was up $14.6 billion.
Asian stocks ended mixed on Thursday. Chinese stocks fell. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index slipped 2.84 points to 2,890.92 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.34 percent to 25,703.50.
Japanese shares slipped into the red. The Nikkei average as well as the broader Topix index gave up early gains to end marginally lower at 20,460.93 and 1,490.17, respectively.
Australian markets ended largely unchanged. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index edged up 6.80 points, or 0.10 percent, to 6,507.40 while the broader All Ordinaries index ended up by 5 points at 6,605.70.
European shares are trading higher. CAC 40 of France is adding 80.62 points or 1.48 percent. DAX of Germany is progressing 142.30 points or 1.21 percent. FTSE 100 of England is gaining 77.77 points or 1.09 percent. Swiss Market Index is up 80.38 points or 0.82 percent.
Euro Stoxx 50 that provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is up 1.45 percent.
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