There is repair work to be done after yesterday's heavy falls, and bargain hunters look set to return to the market.
Reports that there is a split in the Fed over when to raise interest rates boosted Asian markets overnight, which shrugged off the US weakness to notch up strong gains.
Spread betting quotes point to the Dow Jones opening at around 16,986, after falling 157 points on Wednesday to close at 16,924.
The S&P 500 is tipped to break back through the 2,000 barrier, opening at around 2,004, clawing back all of yesterday's gains.
Investment bank Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) is likely to come under pressure, after third quarter numbers came in short of analysts' estimates.
Net income dropped by 36% to US$1.43bn, equivalent to US$2.90 a share, from US$2.24bn (US$4.57 a share) the year before.
The median forecast of analysts covering the stock was for earnings per share of US$3.
Cigarettes maker Philip Morris (NYSE:PM) winched up its earnings guidance a smidgen after third quarter revenues and earnings came in above expectations.
Philip Morris is now pointing towards adjusted earnings growth over the full year of between 11% and 12%, versus previous guidance of 9%-11%.
The Marlboro ciggies maker said cigarette volume in the quarter was 1.5% lower than the year before at 217.8bn units, as a 2.6% increase in its Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region was more than offset by a 6.3% fall in Asia.
On the other side of the healthcare coin, UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) headed higher in pre-market trading after its trading update.
The shares rose 38 cents to US$122.07 ahead of the bell after declaring net profits not much changed from a year earlier.