European shares are seen opening flat on Thursday with focus on BP after a powerful explosion at its oil refinery in Texas ticked up oil prices.
Retailers such as Tesco and Marks & Spencer will be in the spotlight as British supermarket chain Sainsbury issues a trading update after a recent string of disappointing results in the sector.
The London Stock Exchange will also grab focus as Europe's biggest equity market, which is holding talks with suitor Euronext, comes out with a trading statement.
Market volumes are expected to fall ahead of the long Easter break, with markets closed on Friday and Monday.
In the United States, durable goods data for February is due at 1330 GMT, while a weekly jobless claims report and February's new home sales data is also expected.
MARKET OUTLOOK
Financial bookmakers in London expect the FTSE 100 , CAC-40 , and DAX indexes to open between 2 points lower and 4 points higher.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading European shares closed near 7-week lows, led down by resource stocks as metals markets tumbled, while oils such as Total mirrored a slide in crude prices.
U.S. blue chip stocks closed lower on Wednesday as a bigger-than- expected rise in inflation gauge stoked worries about aggressive interest rate hikes and a big drop in oil prices hammered energy shares. U.S. crude oil futures ticked up to $54 a barrel in Asia after a deadly explosion at a Texas refinery, but the market was still down nearly 5 percent on the week due to a firmer dollar and ballooning U.S. crude stocks.
The dollar hit a new six-week high against the yen on Thursday after a surprising rise in inflation gave traders a reason to think the Federal Reserve might raise interest rates more aggressively than expected.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei average ended marginally higher as a big fall in oil prices offset a series of negative news on tech firms.
Other Asian indexes such as the Kospi , Hang Seng and Straits Times were mixed.
Gold prices held above $425 an ounce in Asia on Thursday as renewed demand from jewellers and investors that plucked it off Wednesday's five- week low continued, but at a more subdued level.