Wall Street Poised To Open Slightly Up

(RTTNews) - The weekly jobless claims, Chicago business activity and pending home sales might be the major announcements on Thursday.

Early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open slightly positive.

As of 8.00 am ET, the Dow futures were adding 18.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were up 0.25 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 1.25 points.

The U.S. major averages all moved to the upside. The Dow jumped 477.75 points or 1.2 percent to 39,760.08, the S&P 500 advanced 44.91 points or 0.9 percent to 5,248.49 and the Nasdaq climbed 83.82 points or 0.5 percent to 16,399.52.

On the economic front, The fourth quarter GDP will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 3.2 percent, while it was up 3.2 percent in the prior quarter.

Jobless Claims for the week is scheduled at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 213K, while it was up 210K in the prior week.

The Corporate Profit for the fourth quarter will be released at 8.30 am ET. In the prior quarter, the profits were up 0.1 percent.

The Chicago PMI for March will be released at 9.45 am ET. The consensus is 46.0, while it was at 44.0 in February.

The Pending Home Sales Index for February is expected at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 1.3 percent, while it was down 4.9 percent in January.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA's Natural Gas Report for the week will be published at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the gas stock was up 7 bcf.

The Baker Hughes Rig Count for the week will be issued at 1.00 pm ET. In the prior week, the North America rig count was 793 and the U.S. rig count was 624. The Canada rig count was 169.

The Agricultural Department's Farm Prices for February will be revealed at 3.00 pm ET. In the prior month, the prices were down 1.4 percent.

The Fed Balance Sheet for the week will be released at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the Level was up $7.51 trillion.

European shares are trading higher. Among the major indexes in the region, the CAC 40 Index of France is adding 14.82 points or 0.18 percent. The German DAX is progressing 23.23 points or 0.13 percent, the U.K. FTSE 100 Index is up 20.39 points or 0.26 percent.

The Swiss Market Index is gaining 7.72 points or 0.07 percent.

The Euro Stoxx 50 Index, which is a compilation of 50 blue chip stocks across the euro area, is up 0.22 percent.