A slew of economic announcements and earnings news will be the highlight on Thursday. Fourth quarter GDP, durable goods orders, weekly jobless claims, and new home sales will get special attention today.
IBM Corp. and Tesla have scheduled to report their quarterly results after the bell.
Ukraine Air Force confirmed that there was a continuous missile attack by Russia on specific targets. Meanwhile, the U.S. and Germany are planning to provide tanks to Ukraine to fight against Russian attacks.
As of 7.20 am ET, the Dow futures were up 21.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 13.75 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 94.25 points.
The U.S. major averages finished broadly down on Wednesday. The Dow inched up 9.88 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 33,743.84.
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 edged down just 0.73 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 4,016.22, while the Nasdaq dipped 20.91 points or 0.2 percent to 11,313.36 after plunging as much as 2.3 percent.
On the economic front, the Commerce Department's Durable Goods Orders for December will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 2.8 percent, while it was down 2.1 percent in November.
Gross Domestic Product or GDP for the fourth quarter will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of $2.7 percent, while it was up 3.2 percent in the prior quarter.
The Fed Balance Sheet for the week will be published at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the level was at $8.489 trillion.
The International Trade in Goods (Advance) report for December will be revealed at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for a deficit of $88.5 billion, while the deficit in the previous month was $82.9 billion.
The Labor Department's Jobless Claims for the week is scheduled at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 202K, while it was up 190K in the prior week.
The Chicago Fed National Activity Index will be published at 8.30 am ET.
The Retail Inventories (Advance) for December will be issued at 8.30 am ET. In the prior month, the inventories were up 0.1 percent.
The Wholesale Inventories (Advance) for December will be announced at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for a growth of 0.5 percent, while it was up 1.0 percent in November.
The Commerce Department and Housing & Urban Development Department's New Home Sales for December will be issued at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is 614K, while it was up 640K in the previous month.
The Energy Information Administration or EIA's Natural Gas Report for the week is expected at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the gas stock was down 82 bcf.
The seven-year Treasury notes auction will be held at 1.00 pm ET.
The Fed Balance Sheet for the week will be released at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the level was at $8.489 trillion.
Asian markets gained at the close on Wednesday. Markets in China and Australia are closed for a holiday.
The Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 32 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 27,362.75.
The Hang Seng Index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange added 522 points or 2.37 percent and ended trading at 22,566.78.
European shares are trading broadly up. CAC 40 of France is gaining 46.81 points or 0.66 percent. DAX of Germany is declining 3.28 points or 0.02 percent. FTSE 100 of England is progressing 8.04 points or 0.11 percent. The Swiss Market Index is declining 3.69 points or 0.03 percent.
Euro Stoxx 50 which provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is up 0.41 percent.
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