Wall Street Aims To Open Higher

(RTTNews) - At least 164 people have been killed in Venezuela on Thursday, due to a twin earthquake. More than 900 people were injured. Many buildings have been collapsed due to a 7.5 and 7.2 magnitude quake that lasted for 39 seconds.

Asian shares finished mostly up, while European shares are trading positive.

Oil prices traded sharply lower. Brent crude futures were down 1.3 percent at $72.94 a barrel. Gold prices were subdued on Thursday. Spot gold dipped 0.3 percent to $3,989 an ounce.

Initial trends from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open higher.

As of 7.55 am ET, the Dow futures were up 63.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 46.00 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 606.00 points.

The U.S. major averages finished mostly lower on Wednesday. The Dow climbed 182.06 points or 0.35 percent to finish at 51,848.90, while the NASDAQ slumped 110.40 points or 0.43 percent to close at 25,476.63 and the S&P 500 slipped 7.24 points or 0.10 percent to end at 7,358.22.

On the economic front, the Durable Good Orders for May will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for a decline of 4.7 percent, while it was up 7.9 percent in the prior month.

The Gross Domestic Product or GDP for the first quarter will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 1.6 percent, while it was up 1.6 percent in the prior quarter.

The Jobless Claims for the week will be published at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 225K, while it was up 226K in the prior week.

The Personal Income and Outlays for May is expected at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is up 0.4 percent, while it was 0.0 percent in April.

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for May will be revealed at 8.30 am ET. In the prior month, the Index was up 0.14 percent in April.

Retail Inventories (Advance) for May is expected at 8.30 am ET. In the prior month the inventories were up 0.7 percent.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA's Natural Gas Report for the week will be issued at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the gas stock was up 73 bcf.

The Fed Balance Sheet for the week is expected at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the Level was $6.736 trillion.

New York Fed President John Williams will give keynote before the Crane Money Fund Symposium organized by Crane Data at 3.40 pm ET.

Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee will participate in moderated question-and-answer session before hybrid Chicago Council on Global Affairs Global Economy Dialogue Series at 6.30 pm ET.

Asian stocks ended mixed on Thursday.

China's Shanghai Composite index edged up by 0.23 percent to 4,120.28, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.43 percent to 23,076.91.

Japanese markets gained. The Nikkei average surged 4.61 percent to 72,366.34 while the broader Topix index closed up 1.33 percent at 4,016.47.

Australian markets fell. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.68 percent to 8,748.70. The broader All Ordinaries index settled 0.68 percent lower at 8,951.60.