Wall Street to start higher ahead of jobless data

Wall Street is expected to open higher ahead of more key economic figures. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is set to climb 0.5% or 180 points, while the S&P 500 is showing a 0.47% gain. The Nasdaq Composite, which hit another new peak on Wednesday, is indicated 0.56% higher. Among the data due, weekly jobless claims are forecast to drop to 380,000 after a surprise jump the previous week to 412,000. Sophie Griffiths at Oanda said: " Initial jobless claims are expected to resume the downtrend after an unexpected jump last week. Any sign of further weakness in the labour market recovery could drag the US dollar lower." Durable goods orders for May are likely to show a pick-up following a fall in April, when the global semiconductor shortage caused backlogs in the automotive sector. Four things to watch for on Thursday: Big names in the earnings calendar today include sportswear firm Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), consultancy firm Accenture PLC (LON:ACN) and parcel delivery firm FedEx Corp (NYSE:FDX) Olive Garden owner Darden Restaurants Inc (NYSE:DRI) will be of interest after it reported fourth-quarter earnings and sales that beat estimates Forex markets may also be of interest after the pound slipped following the Bank of England’s latest decision on interest rates On the macro front, aside from jobless claims and durable goods, investors may also be keeping an eye on the US final GDP reading