U.S. futures mixed ahead of jobless data; Dow Jones up 0.10%

Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a mixed open on Thursday, as investors eyed the release of jobless data later in the day, while sentiment remained supported by the Bank of Japan's aggressive monetary easing steps.

Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.10% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.04% gain, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.14% fall.

Market sentiment has been supported since the BoJ unveiled a massive monetary stimulus program last week, aimed at beating deflation in the world’s third largest economy.

Meanwhile, Wednesday’s minutes of the Federal Reserve’s March meeting, which were inadvertently released ahead of schedule, showed that that a few policymakers saw quantitative easing tapering around midyear, while several others believed it would be appropriate to slow later in the year and to stop by the end of the year.

The impact of the minutes was muted as the meeting was held before nonfarm payrolls data showed that the U.S. economy added far fewer than expected jobs in March.

Retailers were expected to be active, after Yum Brands said in a filing Wednesday that the latest deadly avian flu outbreak would have a "significant, negative impact" on sales at KFC stores in China in April, sending shares down 1.14% in pre-market trade.

In addition, Costco Wholesale reported a 4% rise in March sales at stores open at least a year, missing market expectations, due to lower fuel prices and a strong dollar, which hurt the value of its sales overseas.

Energy-linked stocks were also likely to be in focus, after Chesapeake Energy won the dismissal of a securities class action lawsuit over allegations the company misled investors about its financial condition.

Separately, Chevron slipped 0.27% in after-hour trade, after saying on Wednesday its production of oil and gas has declined from a relatively strong fourth quarter while work on two of its three biggest U.S. refineries cut into downstream performance.

In the tech sector, Microsoft plummeted 3.43% in early trading amid reports it is developing a new lineup of Surface tablets, including a 7-inch version expected to go into mass production later this year.

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were higher. The EURO STOXX 50 added 0.18%, France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.45%, Germany's DAX advanced 0.46%, while Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.29%.

During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.3%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index rallied 1.96%.

Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish the weekly government report on initial jobless claims and data on import prices.