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China Outlook, Steady Oil Nudge Wall Street Up Pre-Bell; Asia Mixed, Europe Higher

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Wall Street futures pointed modestly higher pre-bell Thursday as traders mulled clues from the Beijing-Washington summit in China and monitored largely steady oil prices.

In the futures, the S&P 500 gained 0.2% and the Nasdaq advanced 0.1% in morning hours after the indices set new all-time highs on Wednesday. The Dow Jones index was up 0.6% in premarket activity.

Cisco Systems (CSCO) stock was up 17% pre-bell after the company posted higher fiscal Q3 results and issued upbeat Q4 guidance alongside plans to cut jobs.

Investors also await the US retail sales bulletin for April, an early view into consumer responses to higher fuel bills, set for release in Washington at 8:30 am ET.

Asian exchanges traded unevenly overnight, although Seoul's KOSPI index rose 1.8% to strike a fresh all-time zenith. European bourses tracked moderately north midday on the continent.

On the economic calendar, in addition to the retail sales report, is the weekly jobless claims bulletin at 8:30 am ET, along with the import and export prices report for April.

The business inventories bulletin for March posts at 10 am, followed by the weekly EIA natural gas report at 10:30 am.

Federal Reserve Kansas City President Jeffrey Schmid, Cleveland President Beth Hammack, New York President John Williams and Governor Michael Barr are slated to speak on Thursday.

In premarket activity, Bitcoin was trading at $79,637, West Texas Intermediate crude oil traded lower at $100.88, and 10-year US Treasuries offered 4.46%. Spot gold commanded $4,697 an ounce.

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