FX.co ★ Wall Street Set To Open Higher

On Thursday, significant announcements will be made regarding weekly unemployment claims and existing home sales. Asian shares had a broad increase by the close, and European shares are predominantly on the rise.

Early indicators from the U.S. Futures Index suggest a positive opening for Wall Street. As of 7:55 a.m. ET, Dow futures saw an increase of 96.00 points, S&P 500 futures gained 20.75 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures rose by 155.50 points.

Major U.S. averages achieved new peaks at the close of the previous day, Wednesday. The Dow rose by 1.0 percent or 401.37 points to 39,512.13, the Nasdaq increased by 1.3 percent or 202.62 points to 16,369.41, and the S&P 500 advanced by 0.9 percent or 46.11 points to 5,224.62.

Regarding economic news, the Labor Department is scheduled to release unemployment claim data for the week at 8:30 a.m. ET. The consensus stands at 209K, the same as the previous week.

The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index for March will also be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Projections indicate a decrease by 5.0, compared to the 5.2 growth witnessed in February.

The fourth quarter Current Account deficit is expected to be around $209.0 billion, an increase from the previous quarter's deficit of $200.3 billion. This information will be available at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Asian stock markets demonstrated a strong performance on Thursday. China's Shanghai Composite index underwent minor fluctuations before settling slightly lower at 3,077.11. Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index grew by 1.93 percent to 16,863.10.

Japanese markets also logged significant gains. The Nikkei average ascended by 2.03 percent to a record close of 40,815.66, while the more extensive Topix index finished 1.64 percent higher at 2,796.21.

In Australia, the benchmark S&P ASX 200 index soared by 1.12 percent to achieve a new peak at 7,782, while the broader All Ordinaries index ended up 1.13 percent at 8,044.60.