Stocks set to pop

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- U.S. stocks were set to bounce higher at Thursday's open, rebounding from a downturn triggered by the energy sector.

Dow Jones industrial average, Nasdaq and S&P 500 futures were all higher.

Futures measure current index values against perceived future performance.

U.S. stocks slumped Wednesday after investors fled energy shares. The Dow fell 0.4%, the S&P 500 lost 0.6% and the Nasdaq declined 0.5%.

Companies: BP (BP) said Thursday that there was no justification for the sharp drop in its U.S. stock price in the previous day's trading. The shares sank 16% in New York Wednesday.

The company's London-listed shares tumbled 5% in morning European trading on Thursday, though its U.S. shares were up 11% in premarket trade.

Economy: A weekly report on jobless claims comes out at 8:30 a.m. ET. About 450,000 Americans are expected to have filed new claims for unemployment last week versus 453,000 in the previous week, according to a consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com.

Also due at 8:30 a.m. ET is the latest reading on the trade balance for April, expected to have widened to $41.2 billion from $40.4 billion in March.

The Treasury budget for May is slated for release at 2 p.m. ET.

World markets: European markets headed higher in morning trading. France's CAC 40, the DAX in Germany and Britain's FTSE 100 posted modest gains.

Stocks in Asia mostly gained. Japan's benchmark Nikkei index jumped 1.1% and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong finished the session a shade higher.

Dollar and commodities: The dollar was lower against the euro, British pound and Japanese yen.

U.S. light crude oil for July delivery rose 58 cents to $74.96 a barrel.

COMEX gold's August contract fell $4.70 to $1,225.20 per ounce.

Bonds: Treasury prices were slightly higher, pushing the benchmark 10-year note's yield down to 3.21% from 3.22% late Wednesday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.