U.S. stock index futures pointed to a flat open on Thursday after minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's March meeting showed officials want to unwind the bank's $4.5 trillion balance sheet.
After the release of the minutes, the Dow Jones industrial average gave up its near 200-point gains to close 40 points lower. The S&P 500 dropped 0.3 percent and the Nasdaq composite slid 0.6 percent after hitting a new all-time high earlier in the session.
Thursday will also see President Donald Trump meet China's President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, with the leaders of the planet's two biggest economies set to be keenly watched.
On the data front, Thursday will see initial jobless claims released at 8:30 a.m. ET. On the earnings front, CarMax and Constellation Brands both posted quarterly results, sending their stocks higher in the premarket.
In Europe, the pan-European Stoxx 600 Index was mostly flat on Thursday morning. In Asia, China's Shanghai Composite closed 0.35 percent higher and the Nikkei 225 in Japan fell 1.40 percent.
In oil markets, Brent crude traded at around $54.72 a barrel on Thursday, while U.S. crude was around $51.40 a barrel, up 0.49 percent.