U.S. stockmarket futures inched cautiously higher on Thursday, as investors remained on edge after fiscal-cliff worries triggered a post-election plunge for Wall Street the prior day. Asia stocks tumbled in the wake of those losses. Weekly jobless and trade-deficit numbers, along with an interest-rate decision from the European Central Bank are among the day's main events. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 14 points to 12,877, while futures for the Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.6 point to 1,389.70. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 3 points to 2,613. Henrik Drusebjerg, senior strategist at Nordea Bank, said markets will remain fragile as the focus remains on “politicians and the road towards the fiscal cliff. “The market will be very vulnerable to any political comment, whether it's coming from Democrats or Republicans, and will look at any signs of negotiations being easier or tougher than expected," said Drusebjerg. “That will really drive the market," he said. “There's not much more than a month to get this in place." The Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered its worst day of the year on Wednesday, as investors fast-forwarded past re-election news for President Barack Obama onto fiscal-cliff worries. More than $600 billion in tax hikes and spending cuts are set to kick in in January if Congress can't reach agreement on a deficit-cutting plan. The DJIA sank 312.96 points, or 2.4%, to close at 12,932.73 on Wednesday. The last time it closed under 13,000 was Aug. 2. Other major indexes were hit just as hard, with the S&P 500 index finishing below the key psychological level of 1,400. Economic data for Thursday include weekly jobless claims due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. The number of persons applying for unemployment benefits could turn out to be artificially low, owing to disruptions from last week's Hurricane Sandy. The September trade-deficit data are due for release at the same time. ECB in the spotlight In Europe, markets eked out gains, helped by well-received results from industrial group Siemens AG and prior-day news that Greece passed a fresh round of austerity measures late Wednesday. That moves the country a step closer to receiving a much-needed next tranche of aid. The ECB is expected to keep its key lending rate unchanged on Thursday. A decision is due at 7:45 a.m. Eastern, while ECB President Mario Draghi holds his monthly news conference at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. In Asia, Wall Street losses were felt intensely as the Hong Kong Hang Seng index sank 2.4%, its steepest loss since July. Among commodities, December oil futures rose, while gold eked out gains. The dollar firmed slightly. Marketwatch
