U.S. stocks are seen edging higher at the open Thursday, posting new highs as the generally positive first-quarter earnings season continues ahead of key employment data.

At 7:05 AM ET (1205 GMT), the Dow futures contract was up 25 points, or 0.1%, S&P 500 futures traded 4 points, or 0.1%, higher, and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 24 points, or 0.2%.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3% on Wednesday, posting a record closing high. The S&P 500 rose 0.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.4%, its fourth straight negative session and longest daily losing streak since October. 

This has been the busiest week of earnings this quarter, and more companies are lining up to release updates Thursday in what has generally been a positive first quarter.

Regeneron, ViacomCBS and Kellogg are among the names scheduled to report before the opening bell, while Expedia, Roku , Beyond Meat , Shake Shack and Square will report after the market closes.

Moderna also reports first-quarter earnings early Thursday, but the drugmaker could also be in focus after the European Commission said it was willing to discuss a plan, first mooted by U.S. presidential trade adviser Katharine Tai, to waive intellectual property rights for Covid-19 treatments while the pandemic lasts.

Uber will also be in the spotlight after the ride-hailing company disclosed a $600 million charge to provide its U.K. drivers with benefits, while the Biden administration also canceled a Trump-era rule that made it easier for companies not to classify gig workers as employees, suggesting costs will rise.

The main economic release Thursday will be the weekly jobless claims data, coming a day after the ADP’s private payroll report for April showed jobs rose 742,000, the most in seven months. 

This has raised expectations for Friday’s monthly official jobs report, but ahead of that initial jobless claims are expected to come in around 540,000 and continuing claims around 3.62 million, when they are released at 8:30 AM ET (1230 GMT).

Oil prices edged lower Thursday despite a huge fall in U.S. crude stockpiles as the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic remains uneven. 

Government data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration late Wednesday showed crude stockpiles contracted by nearly 8 million barrels last week, falling to their lowest level since late February.

That said, the EIA also detailed a larger-than-expected 737,000-barrel build in gasoline inventories, rising for the fifth straight week. 

U.S. crude futures traded 0.6% lower at $65.22 a barrel, while the Brent contract fell 0.6% to $68.58. 

Elsewhere, gold futures rose 0.3% to $1,790.25/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.3% higher at 1.2040.

(Source:RTT News)