U.S. stock index futures pointed to a flat open on Thursday, as investors prepared to wade through more data, while trying to see if there's any chance of the Dow Jones' reaching 20,000 before the year is out.
On Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average fell as much as 113 points during its session, , and closed 0.56 percent lower, at 19,833.68.
As a result, the hope for the Dow topping 20,000 before 2016 ends is slowly falling away for investors.
On the data front, Thursday will see the release of the most recent jobless claims data, due out at 8.30 a.m. ET, on top of U.S. trade deficit data, expected at 8.30 a.m. ET also.
Meanwhile in oil, around the flat-line or posted slight losses early on Thursday, with slightly down at $53.80, while eked out slight gains, at $56.25.
As the light festive trading season continues to get underway, on Thursday morning, while finished mixed overnight. All in the previous session.
No earnings are expected to be released on Thursday.
CNBC's Antonio José Vielma contributed to this report.