NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Stocks will try to extend their recent gains as investors wait for the traditional year-end "Santa Claus" rally.

Stock futures pointed higher, suggesting a higher open for stocks, after the market ended a four-day slide with a modest gain in Wednesday trading, although the major gauges retreated from their highs in the last two hours of trading.

Oil prices rose for a second day after a U.S. government report showing a drop in the supply of distillates used for heating.

The February light crude futures contract for NYMEX gained 39 cents to $58.95 a barrel in electronic trading, while the February contract for Brent crude added 61 cents to $57.33.

Major markets in Asia closed lower Thursday as stocks retreated after the latest leg of the recent rally. Major European markets were mixed to lower in midday trading.

Thursday the government reported a 0.3 percent gain in both consumer spending and personal income gained 0.3 percent, and the report contained what was considered a tame reading on inflationary pressures on prices. Weekly jobless claims fell more than forecasts.

Bond prices were up following the economic reports, cutting the yield on the 10-year Treasury to 4.46 percent from about 4.49 percent late Wednesday.

The dollar gained ground against the yen but declined against the euro.

In corporate news, Swiss drugmaker Roche saw its stock fall in Europe after the New England Journal of Medicine reported that four of eight patients treated in Vietnam for bird flu infections died despite the use of Roche's Tamiflu drug.

The news sparked a fresh round of worries about bird flu and how it's being treated.

But Roche also got some good news as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced late Wednesday that it approved the Swiss drugmaker's request to market Tamiflu for preventing flu in children as young as 1 year old.

The New York Times reported Thursday that the board of the nation's No. 2 grocery chain Albertsons (Research) had unexpectedly rejected a $9.6 billion offer for the company for reasons that were not immediately clear. Albertsons stock tumbled on the report.

Albertsons' board may move to sell some stores and its drugstore business, the report said. A group of investors including the drugstore chain CVS had been considering a cash-and-stock bid for all of Albertsons.

Research In Motion (Research) reported a stronger-than-expected 33 percent rise in third-quarter profit after the close Wednesday, as sales jumped on surging demand for its popular BlackBerry wireless e-mail device. The stock jumped 6 percent in after-hours trading.

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