BENGALURU Wall Street was set to open higher on Thursday, bolstered by better-than-expected jobs data that eased worries of a slowdown in the world's largest economy.

A Labor Department report showed on Thursday the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits came in at 233,000 for the week ended Aug 3, compared with an estimate of 240,000 as per economists polled by Reuters.

Megacap and growth stocks rose in pre-market trading, looking to stabilise after a free fall on Monday, as disappointing labour data last week sparked fears of a potential recession.

"Since the jobs report last Friday, everyone's been nervous about a recession...the claims came in lower than expected, alleviating some of the fear that the labour market was completely rolling over," said Thomas Hayes, the chairman of Great Hill Capital LLC.

"We have a reasonably robust economy and not an imminent recession, so we can wait a few more weeks for that final first cut from the Fed (US Federal Reserve)."

Money markets currently see a 70.5% chance of a 50-basis-point rate cut by the Fed in September, with the possibility of two more cuts by the end of 2024, according to CME's FedWatch Tool.

The yield on the US 10-year Treasury note rose slightly after the jobless claims data.

At 8.43am ET, S&P 500 futures were up 47 points, or 0.9%, Nasdaq 100 futures were up 226 points, or 1.26%, and Dow futures were up 172 points, or 0.44%.

Global markets are still recovering from the rout earlier this week amid heightened volatility this week. Earlier in the day, JPMorgan raised the odds of a US recession by the end of this year to 35% from 25%, citing easing labour market pressures.

The Nasdaq closed 1% lower in the previous session, as tech stocks lost steam after a brief rebound following a global stocks rout, and weak demand in a 10-year Treasury auction.

Markets will now focus on comments from Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin, who will be speaking at 3pm ET, for any clues about the US central bank's next move.

The CBOE Market Volatility Index, also known as Wall Street's "fear gauge", was at 25.82 points, up from Wednesday's low of 21.97.

On the earnings front, Eli Lilly jumped 12.7% after the drugmaker raised its annual profit forecast, and sales of its popular weight-loss drug Zepbound crossed US$1 billion for the first time in a quarter.

Bumble slashed its annual revenue growth forecast, stoking worries about the dating app operator's growth plans, sending its shares down 40.6% in pre-market trading. Rival Match Group also fell 2.8%.

Warner Bros Discovery dropped 10.3% after it wrote down the value of its TV assets, due to the uncertainty of fees from cable and satellite distributors and sports rights renewals.

Monster Beverage lost 6.6% after the energy drinks maker missed market expectations for second-quarter sales, as budget-conscious consumers kept a tight lid on spending.

Robinhood added 7.7% after the retail trading app beat Wall Street expectations for second-quarter earnings, as interest in meme stocks and cryptocurrencies soared, and said it continued to gain retail trading market share from rivals. 

  - Reuters