Report on May housing starts is due to be released before the opening bell Thursday. Economists are expecting a rate of about 2.04 million units, near to the 2.038 million-unit rate recorded in April. Weekly employment data are also scheduled to be released before the bell and economists anticipate initial jobless claims to come in at 330,000 for the week ended June 11, unchanged vs. the previous week's numbers.

The futures rose slightly early Thursday morning. The S&P futures were up by 1 point, the Dow futures were up 9 points and the Nasdaq futures were higher by 2.5 points.

The July light crude gained 20 cents to $55.77 a barrel in electronic trading, while the August contract for Brent crude gained 28 cents to $55.52.

The U.S. dollar rose Thursday morning versus other major currencies in European trading. The euro traded at $1.2109, down versus $1.2125 late Wednesday in New York. The greenback quoted at 109.26 Japanese yen, up versus 109.17. The British pound was quoted at $1.8204, down from $1.8237.

Asian markets closed mostly higher Thursday, led by gains in commodity shares combined with strong crude and metals futures. Japanese shares finished up, and Shanghai's managed to reverse early losses, bolstered by government report which provoked the fears the economy may be overheating. The Nikkei 225 Average ticked up 0.50 point to 11,416.38. The broader Topix of all Tokyo Stock Exchange closed up 2.31 points at 1,160.54.

European shares recorded strong gains Thursday morning, bolstered by an intraday rebound during the last U.S. session. The recent strength in energy and metals prices boosted the demand of resource stocks. Germany's DAX 30 climbed 0.6% at 4,573, France's CAC 40 index edged up 0.5% at 4,204 and London's FTSE 100 index gained 0.4% to 5,038.

With crude-oil remaining over $55 a barrel, brockers are mainly concentrated over buying oil companies. Oil giant BP shed 0.4% while Goldman Sachs traded flat.

Pfizer (PFE: chart) has agreed to buy Vicuron Pharmaceuticals (MICU: chart) for $29.10 per share in cash, as both the companies said early Thursday. The transaction with a total equity purchase price of about $1.9 billion, is seen to end during 3Q. The companies said that Vicuron has 2 products under New Drug Application review at the FDA - anidulafungin for fungal infections and dalbavancin for Gram-positive infections.

Potash Corp. (POT: chart) lifted its guidance for 2Q on a strong spring season and better-than-anticipated fundamentals that lead to higher prices in the 3 nutrients the company produces. The company now sees a quarterly profit of $1.40-$1.50 per share vs. its earlier forecast of $1.00-$1.25 per share.

Goldman Sachs (GS: chart) is among the large brokers to post earnings this week, following stronger-than-anticipated results from Lehman Brothers (LEH: chart) and Bear Stearns (BSC: chart). Analysts expect Goldman to earn $1.87 per share in the quarter, down vs. $2.31 per share a year ago.