* Weekly jobless claims fall, 4-week avg at 2-year low
* Treasuries steady, giving support to futures
* Futures up: S&P 6.6 pts, Dow 50 pts, Nasdaq 10.75 pts (Recasts, adds details, quote)
By Leah Schnurr
NEW YORK, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Wall Street was poised for a higher open on Thursday after encouraging labor market data and as Treasuries steadied after a recent jump in yields.
Data showed first-time claims for jobless benefits fell more than expected last week and the four-week moving average dropped to a two-year low. Futures extended gains after the release of the data, which was a positive sign after last week's disappointing payrolls report.
Jamie Cox, managing partner of Harris Financial Group in Colonial Heights, Virginia, said the continuing claims figure, which was also was down, was a more important indicator, given the volatility in initial claims.
"The continuing claims number's trajectory is exactly where you want it to be," said Cox. "It's going to be a nice slow decline in continuing claims -- that's what we think and that's what we're getting."
Adding to the positive tone, treasuries prices rose following a selloff this week that pushed benchmark yields to six-month highs. Higher bond yields make it more expensive for consumers and businesses to borrow, a potential problem for the still-fragile economic recovery.
S&P 500 futures added 6.6 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures were up 50 points, while Nasdaq 100 futures rose 10.75 points.
Analysts are betting the market will rally into year-end, though stocks may trade sideways in the short-term after strong gains since the beginning of the month.
"There's been some chit chat in articles and on TV about the underperformance of active managers that might want to show a little better results, so they might be the marginal buyer that pushes up the stock market," said Kim Caughey Forrest, senior equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh.
The S&P 500 closed at 1,228.28 Wednesday right around a key resistance level that represents the 61.8 percent Fibonacci retracement of the 2007-2009 bear market slide, a key technical indicator. Decisive gains above this level could turn it into support for the index and open the way for more advances.
Wholesale inventories data for October is due at 10 a.m. EST (1500 GMT), and anticipated to gain 0.9 percent compared with an increase of 1.5 percent the month before.
Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc rose 2.8 percent to $111.60 in premarket trade after the company announced a 2-for-1 stock split and a supplemental dividend of $1 per share.
Yum Brands Inc gained 2 percent to $51.29 premarket after Jefferies and Susquehanna raised their price targets on the restaurant group.
Johnson & Johnson was off 0.3 percent to $62.24 premarket after Wells Fargo Securities downgraded its rating to "market perform" from "outperform".
A compromise plan by U.S. President Barack Obama to broadly extend tax cuts moved forward on Wednesday despite opposition from his own Democrats.
Stocks edged higher Wednesday as gains in financial and technology stocks offset declines caused by a recent surge in bond yields.