LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures leaned higher Thursday as a market increasingly fixated on bonds awaits another key auction of government debt as well as data on retail sales.
S&P 500 futures rose 3 points to 943.50 and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 5.75 points to 1,501.50. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 26 points.
Fears that rising bond yields and oil prices could derail an economic recovery hit U.S. stocks on Wednesday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 24 points, the Nasdaq Composite lost 7 points and the S&P 500 fell 3 points.
An auction of 10-year government bonds sent yields near 4% on Wednesday. The U.S. is due to auction off $11 billion worth of 30-year notes on Thursday.
Lena Komileva, head of G7 market economics at Tullett Prebon, pointed out in a research note that while measures of fear, like the VIX (VIX 28.46, +0.19, +0.67%) volatility index, are moving back to September levels, other indicators are weakening.
"The flip-side of systemic risk indicators, however, remains equally visible as the improvement in private sector conditions this year has come at the direct expense of sharply deteriorating public balance sheets. As a result, the U.S. dollar and the long-end of the U.S. yield curve continue to see net outflows."
Yields on the 10-year bond fell 2 basis points to 3.92%. Yields move in the opposite direction to prices.
The dollar dropped against both the yen and the euro.
The flip side of the dollar has been commodities, where oil futures rose past $72 a barrel in electronic trade. The International Energy Agency increased its estimate for 2009 world oil demand.
The key economic report of the day will be retail sales for May, due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, with weekly jobless claims and April business inventories also due for release.
Overseas, Chinese fixed-asset investment surged 33% in the January-to-May period, but exports in China contracted 26% in May, according to data released Thursday.
Palm (PALM 11.99, -0.70, -5.52%) will be in the spotlight as the maker of the Pre phone announced that Jon Rubinstein will become chairman and chief executive, replacing Ed Colligan, who is leaving after 16 years.
Del Monte (DLM 7.65, -0.51, -6.25%) and, after the close, National Semiconductor (NSM 14.71, +0.14, +0.96%) , will report quarterly results.
Vulcan Materials (VMC 43.97, -0.65, -1.46%) may see pressure as the country's largest producer of construction aggregates said it was cutting its quarterly dividend nearly in half, selling 11.5 million shares and forecast fiscal-year earnings below Wall Street estimates.
Overseas, the South Korean Kospi closed 0.3% higher while the Nikkei 225 couldn't hold a brief advance over the 10,000, with the key Tokyo index finishing 0.1% lower.
The pan-Europe Stoxx 600 edged up 0.7%, with banks, automakers and health stocks rising. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK 33.65, -0.07, -0.21%) rose on an upgrade from Morgan Stanley.
