US shares are set to recoup losses from yesterday ahead of more quarterly results and an announcement from the European Central Bank on future policy.
Analysts have said they expected the bank to hold interest rates where they are but possibly extend the eurozone's quantitative easing programme.
Any moves will be keenly observed in the US where the timing of a possible rate rise is still in question.
On Wednesday, US markets were dragged lower, not least due to claims about ‘fraud’ at Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:VRX), which put pressure on shares.
The stock sank up to 40% lower after short-selling firm Citron Research claimed that the Canadian drug company is shipping products to its own unit and then falsely claiming the revenue. Valeant has categorically rejected the short-seller allegations.
The Dow Jones closed 48 points lower at 17,169, while the S&P500 went 12 lower to 2,019. The Nasdaq sank 41 to 4,840.
Futures trading on Thursday points to the Dow Jones opening 42 points higher; the S&P500 starting around seven points ahead and the Nasdaq starting 16.5 points higher.
On the European news, Analyst at London foreign exchange group OANDA, Craig Erlam, had this to say: "ECB president Mario Draghi is likely to play his usual role today of talking up the risks to the eurozone economy and highlighting the broad range of policy tools available to the central bank, should it wish to use them."
Meanwhile, on USA affairs, Chris Beauchamp, at spreadbetter IG, said: "eBay shares put in a good showing last night, despite a drop in sales, but most attention was focused on Valeant, whose shares continue to come under pressure after a decade of growth."
He added that the ECB will command the afternoon headlines, but macro data in the US includes existing home sales, plus big name earnings after the closing bell from Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Google’s parent firm Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG).
This morning, investor attention will also be focused on earnings from the likes of Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), Dunkin' Brands (NYSE: DNKN), McDonald's (NYSE: MCD).
United Continental (NYSE: UAL) and Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) are also reporting this morning.