Wall Street shares are seen opening slightly higher with earnings again in focus and after US markets closed up on Wednesday.
It came after US weekly oil inventories came in below forecast and propped up oil prices.
Today more earnings are on the cards, with dozens of firms reporting, including General Motors.
US crude at the time of writing on Thursday is up a tad - 0.32% at US$44.29 - building on steady gains made over the last few weeks.
In Japan, stocks soared overnight, with the Nikkei 225 adding 2.7% to stand at 17,363.
On Wall Street, the benchmark Dow closed over 42 higher at 18,096, while the Nasdaq gained 7.89 at 4,948. The broader based S&P500 gained 1.6 at 2,102.
In futures trading today, the Dow Jones is 13 points ahead, while the S&P500 is up just one point and the tech heavy Nasdaq is flat.
This morning, numbers are expected from, among others, General Motors (NYSE:GM), Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB), Blackstone (NYSE:BX), Alaska Air (NYSE:ALK) and Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX).
Google parent Alphabet and computer titan Microsoft report after the close.
On the macro side, there are also jobless claims and the Philadelphia Fed survey.