Investing.com – U.S. futures were higher on Thursday as investors looked ahead to a flurry of economic data.
The S&P 500 futures gained 10 points or 0.39% to 2,715.50 as of 6:46 AM ET (10:46 GMT) while Dow futures increased 92 points or 0.38% to 24,227.0. Meanwhile tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures gained 29 points or 0.43% to 7,028.00.
Investors are looking ahead to the gross domestic product (GDP) data which comes out at at 8:30 AM ET (12:30 GMT). Jobless claims comes out at the same time.
Meanwhile trade tensions remained in the back of investors minds, after the White House said it will rely on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to protect domestic technology in regards to foreign investment.
Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) was among the top gainers in pre-market trading, rising 1.44% while Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) increased 0.78% and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) inched up 0.18%. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) gained 0.47% while Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) rallied 1.00%.
Elsewhere Tata Motors Limited ADR (NYSE:TTM) fell 2.35% and Pier 1 Imports Inc (NYSE:PIR) slumped 15.67% after its sales fell more than expected in the first quarter.
In earnings news, Nike (NYSE:NKE), Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) and Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) are expected to release their financial results on Thursday.
In Europe stocks were down. Germany’s DAX fell 89 points or 0.73% while in France the CAC 40 decreased 18 points or 0.35% and in London, the FTSE 100 was down half a point or 0.01%. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 lost 16 points or 0.49% while Spain’s IBEX 35 slumped 39 points or 0.41%.
In commodities, gold futures fell 0.18% to $1,253.80 a troy ounce while crude oil futures increased 0.25% to $72.94 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.17% to 94.86.