US stock futures flat after jobless claims; oil rises around 2 percent
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a flat open on Thursday as traders digested economic data and corporate earnings, while oil prices rose.
On Wednesday, OPEC agreed to its first oil production cut in eight years, triggering a rally in oil prices. In commodity markets on Thursday, Brent crude (Intercontinental Exchange Europe: @LCO.1) traded at around $52.87 a barrel, while U.S. crude (New York Mercantile Exchange: @CL.1) was around $50.44 a barrel.
On the data front Thursday, initial jobless claims came in at 268,000, above an expected 253,000. Other data due Thursday includes the manufacturing PMI at 9:45 a.m. The ISM index and construction spending are set to come out at 10 a.m. ET, while vehicle sales are also due to be released on Thursday.
On the earnings front, Dollar General (DG) and Kroger (KR) both reported before the bell. Ulta Salon, Workday (WDAY), Ambarella (AMBA) andFive Below (FIVE) are among companies due to report after the bell.
In Europe, the pan-European Stoxx-600 index (^STOXX) was around 0.52 percent lower on Thursday. In Asia, the Shanghai composite (Shanghai Stock Exchange: .SSEC) in China closed 0.74 percent higher on Thursday, while the Nikkei (Nihon Keizai Shinbun: .N225) in Japan closed 1.12 percent higher.
