U.S. futures higher ahead of final GDP data; Dow Jones up 0.40%

Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open on Thursday, amid thin trade ahead of the Christmas holiday weekend and as investors eyed a final report on third quarter U.S. gross domestic product.

Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a rise of 0.40%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.44% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.50% gain.

Market sentiment weakened earlier after the European Central Bank offered EUR489.2 billion in an auction of three-year loans, much higher than estimated, with a total of 523 bidders, in an attempt to avert a liquidity crunch in the euro zone.

The amount allotted was the largest ever for a longer-term refinancing operation by the ECB and indicated that lenders believe funding problems are likely to persist into 2012.

Yahoo shares were up 1.31% in pre-market trade as the company is considering a plan to sell the bulk of the company's holdings in Alibaba Group of China and Yahoo!'s Japanese affiliate back to their majority owners in a transaction valued at roughly USD17 billion.

In the financial sector, Bank of America climbed 1.15% after saying it will pay USD335 million to settle U.S. Department of justice charges that alleged discriminatory lending practices by its Countrywide Financial unit.

The settlement, announced Wednesday, will be the largest residential fair lending settlement in history and will compensate thousands of African-American and Hispanic borrowers who were victims of the alleged discriminatory practice.

On the downside, specialty retailer Bed Bath & Beyondm tumbled 3.03% although it beat expectations for third quarter earnings.

Micron Technology was also down 4.32% after posting a first-quarter loss of USD187 million amid continued declines in pricing for dynamic random-access memory products.

Auto maker Toyota added to losses with shares retreating 0.37% as the company aims for record global sales of 8.48 million vehicles in 2012 and 8.95 million vehicles in 2013, after bouncing back from the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan that weighed on production.

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were sharply higher. The EURO STOXX 50 jumped 1.09%, France’s CAC 40 surged 1.30%, Germany's DAX climbed 1.09%, while Britain's FTSE 100 soared 1.11%.

During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shed 0.25%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.8%.

Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish its weekly report on initial jobless claims, as well as revised data on third quarter GDP. The University of Michigan was also to release revised data on consumer sentiment and inflation expectations.