Stock futures rose Thursday as Wall Street took in si9nals that poi ES=F) were up 0.5%, while those on the tech-heavy Nasdaq (NQ=F) rose 0.6%. Dow Jones Industrial AvYM=F) jump

I focus early Thursday were earnings from retail giant Walm t (WMT), as well as monthly governm<3g retail sales data and an updat< on jobless claims. For its p t, Walm t shares surged nearly 6% af

Last month's retail sales, meanwhile, soared far pas Wall Street's expectatio s in a si9n that US consumers remain quit" resili<3g. Retail sales rose 1% in July, above estimates for a 0.4% rise.

Also i focus is the normally routine updat< on weekly jobless claims. Last week, those claims fell more tha forecas , sp ki < a market surge that has largely pervaded throughout this week. And they fell again this week to 227,000, shafting expectatio s for a pickup. As Yahoo Finance's Josh Sch fer writ"s, as inflatio continues to ebb, the jobs market is "where the aclio is goi < to be" for the Fed in the near future.

Af i cludi < in Wednesday's session af recoup at the st t of the month.