By Peter Nurse    

-- U.S. stocks are seen opening higher Thursday, adding to the gains from the previous session as fears about the banking system fade and investors try to gauge the Federal Reserve's future plans. 

At 07:00 ET (11:00 GMT), the contract was up 195 points, or 0.6%, traded 22 points, or 0.6%, higher and climbed 60 points, or 0.5%.

The main indices closed with strong gains Wednesday, with the tech sector leading the way on rising expectations the may pause its rate-hiking cycle when its policymakers next meet in May.

The blue chip closed over 300 points, or 1%, higher, while the broad-based ended up 1.4%. The tech-heavy gained 1.8%, putting it on course for a 13% gain by the end of the quarter, which would be the index’s best advance since the fourth quarter of 2020.

While the tensions surrounding the banking sector appear to be easing, investors are still worried that the pressure on lenders this month will translate into a pullback in lending, likely hitting economic growth going forward.

With this in mind, investors are starting to factor in the Fed pausing its battle against inflation, although this view could be affected by the release Friday of the U.S. central bank’s favorite gauge of inflation, the .

Ahead of that, the final reading for the fourth quarter is expected to show growth of 2.7% from the prior quarter, while weekly are expected to be 196,000, which would be up from 191,000 the prior week. Both releases are due at 08:30 ET (12:30 GMT). 

Additionally, Boston Federal Reserve President , Richmond Fed President and Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari are all scheduled to speak later in the session.

In corporate news, (NYSE:) provided more details of its future plans, with the CEO of China’s biggest Internet platform company, Daniel Zhang, saying it will sell off non-core assets and will consider giving up majority control of the six operating companies that it is creating.

RH (NYSE:) stock fell more than 6% premarket after the home furnishing retailer reported disappointing quarterly , and continued to warn of a challenging backdrop amid weakness in the housing market.  

Oil prices edged higher Thursday, continuing the week's positive tone after U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 7.5 million barrels last week according to official data from the U.S. , the biggest draw since late November.

Additionally, disruptions in Kurdish oil shipments have cut out about 450,000 barrels per day, or 0.5% of daily global supply, tightening the global supply situation.

By 07:00 ET, futures traded 1.1% higher at $73.77 a barrel, while the contract climbed 0.9% to $78.32.

Additionally, rose 0.2% to $1,988.15/oz, while traded 0.4% higher at 1.0882.