Get all the latest news on coronavirus and more delivered daily to your inbox.\u00a0\u00a0Sign up here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n U.S. equity futures have pared overnight gains, but still\u00a0point to a slightly higher\u00a0open\u00a0when trading begins on Thursday.<\/p>\n The major futures indexes are indicating a small rise of\u00a00.1\u00a0percent.<\/p>\n The main economic event will be the release of weekly jobless claim numbers, which are expected to again be huge.<\/p>\n GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The Labor Department is expected to say the number of claims for unemployment benefits declined to 3.5 million last week from 4.43 million the prior week. Estimates range from 2 million to 5 million. During the prior 5 weeks a total of 26.45 million workers have filed for jobless claims.<\/p>\n Personal income and consumption data for March will also be released.\u00a0The expected 5 percent plunge in consumption expenditures would be the largest on record\u00a0going back to February 1959.<\/p>\n Oil prices are continuing their extreme swings after a collapse in demand has sent crude storage tanks close to their limits.<\/p>\n Benchmark U.S. crude oil is trading up 14\u00a0percent or $2.11\u00a0to $17.17\u00a0a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It rose $2.72, or 22 percent, to settle at $15.06 a barrel Wednesday. Brent crude oil, the international standard, is higher by $1.72\u00a0to $24.26\u00a0a barrel.<\/p>\n FED CHAIR POWELL READY TO TOSS SMALL BUSINESSES ANOTHER LIFELINE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n \nAsian shares advanced on Thursday, riding a wave of optimism about a possible treatment for the coronavirus.<\/p>\n Japan’s benchmark Nikkei surged 2.1 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite added 1.2 percent. Markets in Hong Kong were closed for a holiday.<\/p>\n Manufacturing activity in China rebounded\u00a0in March, but forecasters warn manufacturers might face a second dip due\u00a0 \u00a0to a possible second wave of the outbreak.<\/p>\n The European economy shrank by 3.8 percent\u00a0in the first quarter as business activity was frozen by shutdowns aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus.<\/p>\n It was the biggest drop since statistics began in 1995<\/p>\n In Europe, London’s FTSE slipped 0.2\u00a0percent, Germany’s DAX was off 0.1 percent and France’s CAC added 0.2\u00a0percent.<\/p>\n