Wall Street points to higher opening, eyes Yellen, data, earnings

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher opening on Thursday morning as traders eyed remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, as well as a host of data and earnings.

Yellen is set to appear before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress in Washington, D.C. at 10:00 a.m. ET.

She was scheduled to testify on the economy at the hearing, but is now expected to be asked about President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to cut taxes and launch a hefty infrastructure spending program. The Fed itself is also likely to be a topic of discussion.

On the data front Thursday will see initial claims, CPI, housing starts and the Philly Fed survey all released at 8:30 a.m. ET.

On the earnings front Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Staples and Manchester United are set to report before the bell. Applied Materials, Gap, Intuit and Williams-Sonoma are among companies due to report after the bell.

In Europe, the pan-European Stoxx-600 index was flat on Thursday morning. In Asia, the Shanghai Composite in China closed 0.11 percent higher, while the Nikkei in Japan closed unchanged.

Source: CNBC