NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Stocks looked set for a higher opening Thursday as investors digested a batch of economic reports.

S&P and Nasdaq futures ticked higher following the release of personal income and spending figures, indicating modest gains for stocks at the open. Stocks managed to rally Wednesday as oil prices fell after the government said it would tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and lend oil to refiners hurt by Hurricane Katrina.

Oil prices climbed higher overnight, but are now little changed from Wednesday's close. There are concerns that if the price of oil results in gasoline as high as $4 a gallon, consumers may pull back on spending, which would have a negative impact on the overall economy. For more on Katrina, click here.

The October light crude futures contract gained two cents to $68.96 a barrel in electronic trading, while October Brent rose 10 cents to $67.12 in London.

Thursday's a busy day for economic news, with readings due on personal income and spending for July. Personal incomes rose 0.3 percent in July, slightly weaker than economists expectations and below a 0.5 percent increase in June. Personal spending, despite fairly high oil prices in July, climbed to one percent after rising 0.8 percent, in line with expectations.

Jobless claims climbed higher than expected. Initial jobless claims rose to 320,000 in the week ended Aug. 25 from an upwardly revised reading of 317,000 in the week before. Economists had expected 315,000 claims.

The August read on manufacturing from the Institute for Supply Management is also due with economists expecting the measure to climb to 57 from 56.6. Any reading over 50 points to expansion in manufacturing.

And truck and auto sales for August are expected to fall from the prior month. Economists see car and light truck sales sinking to an annual rate of about 14.1 million from July's torrid pace of 17 million, which was boosted by automakers' offer of employee discounts to everyone.

Wednesday's drop in oil prices and subsequent rally in the U.S. stock market bolstered foreign markets.

Major markets in Asia finished higher Thursday with Tokyo stocks closing at a four-year high. European markets were also higher in early trading.

Treasury bond prices dropped, raising the yield on the 10-year treasury to 4.05 percent from the 4.01 percent level late Wednesday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

The dollar was little changed against the yen but weakened slightly against the euro.

In corporate news, Swiss pharmaceutical firm Novartis (Research) offered $4.5 billion to gain full control of U.S. vaccines maker Chiron (Research). The company already owns just over 42 percent of Chiron.

For a more detailed look at the markets before the open, click here.