LONDON (ShareCast) - US stock futures edged higher on Thursday, as investors awaited a raft of economic data and speeches by two Federal Reserve officials.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is expected to open approximately 73 points higher, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are set to begin the session eight and 18 points higher respectively.

Thursday data

In what will be a busy session data-wise, investors will come to grips with the weekly jobless claims report, due out at 13:30 BST, along with personal income, consumer spending and core-inflation data for May.

"Inflation is expected to have risen by 0.1% in May, in line with the last four months," said Oanda's senior market analyst Craig Erlam.

"This is clearly below what the Fed would like to see when considering rate hikes but their decisions are based on inflation expectations which would rise if incomes and spending were growing at a faster rate."

That is followed by the release, at 13:45 BST, of the US Markit Composite PMI for June.

"The services sector is hugely important to the US economy and therefore the PMI readings could give good insight into how the economy will perform in the second half, having got off to a slow start," Erlam added.

At 13:00 BST, Daniel Tarullo, a voting member of the Fed's rate-setting committee, will speak about the economy and financial regulation at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, while at 14:45 BST, Fed governor Jerome Powell will talk about retail payment-system security.

On Tuesday, Powell said he believed economic conditions may allow for two rate hikes before the end of the year.

Greek woes rumble on

Elsewhere, European stocks were in the black on Thursday, holding on to gains despite reports that Greece and its creditors have failed to reach an agreement ahead of the Eurogroup meeting.

Asian stocks fell, with the Shanghai Composite dropping over 3%.

"In all likelihood, creditors will leave it until the weekend or early next week to squeeze as much out of Greece as possible before risking the country defaulting on its debts," said Jasper Lawler, analyst at CMC Markets.

The dollar was stable against the euro but fell 0.1% and 0.22% against the pound and the yen respectively, while gold futures slid 0.02% to $1,172.70.

Oil prices were mixed, with West Texas Intermediate losing 0.45% to $60 a barrel, while Brent edged 0.63% higher to $63.53 a barrel.

In company news, business consulting firm Accenture climbed ahead of the bell after its third-quarter sales and profits beat expectations, while the company also lifted its outlook for 2015.

IAC/InterActiveCorp jumped 5.88% in pre-market trading after CNBC reported the media and Internet company was planning to announce an initial public offering of its online dating site Match.com

Micron Technology and Nike will report after the close.

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