Stock futures choppy ahead of GDP, jobless claims

Retail earnings are due from Macy's, Dollar General, Dollar Tree and Costco

U.S. equity futures were choppy following Wednesday's Fed-fueled rally, as the latest meeting confirmed expectations of more interest rate hikes, but held no surprises to rattle investors.

The major futures indexes suggest a mixed open when the Thursday trading session on Wall Street gets underway.

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Oil prices gained Thursday morning, extending a rally supported by tight supply with U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures above $110 a barrel.

New York stock exchange traders

Traders at the NYSE.  (Courtney Crow/New York Stock Exchange via AP / Associated Press)

Investors are uneasy over the impact of interest rate hikes in the United States and in other Western economies to cool surging inflation. Wednesday's Fed release showed that board members support 0.5-percentage-point hikes at their next two meetings. 

FED MINUTES SUGGEST INTEREST RATE HIKES COULD COME FASTER THAN THE MARKET EXPECTS

Thursday's economic reports include an update on GDP, weekly jobless claims and pending home sales.

Retail earnings keep coming. Results are due in the morning from Macy’s, Dollar General and Dollar Tree. After the closing bell, the focus turns to big-box retailer Costco, as well as Gap, Ulta Beauty and American Eagle Outfitters.

Bitcoin traded above $29,000.

In Asia, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo lost 0.3%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong sank 0.8% and China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.5%.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
I:DJI DOW JONES AVERAGES 44736.57 +440.06 +0.99%
SP500 S&P 500 5987.37 +18.03 +0.30%
I:COMP NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX 19054.835014 +51.18 +0.27%

On Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 index rose 0.9% to 3,978.73. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.6% to 32,120.28. The Nasdaq composite climbed 1.5% to 11,434.74.

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The yield on the 10-year Treasury was at 2.73%.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.