Stocks poised for another advance

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Wall Street was set for a higher open Thursday after Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner offered reassuring comments about U.S. banks, investors awaited chain store sales and General Motors posted a quarterly loss that beat expectations.

At 7:16 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones industrial average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures were higher.

Futures measure current index values against perceived future performance and offer an indication of how markets may open when trading begins in New York.

U.S. stocks surged Wednesday after early reports of the government’s so-called stress tests suggested that the major banks are better capitalized than some had thought.

Geithner further reassured investors when he said in a TV interview Wednesday night that none of the 19 banks that were tested are at risk of insolvency.

David Jones, chief market strategist at IG Markets in London, said that “reassuring noises” from Geithner about the financial health of the banks, and a positive ADP report on the job market on Wednesday, helped to fuel investor sentiment.

“I think, at the moment, the market is in a good frame of mind about the jobless numbers,” said Jones.

Retailers: A number of retailers were due to release their April same-store sales.

Investors will be watching the results closely to see whether consumers are starting to spend again.

Corporate results: General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) reported a quarterly loss of $6 billion, which was better than expected. The automaker also said that sales fell 21% as it burned through $10 billion in the first quarter.

Another ailing behemoth, AIG (AIG, Fortune 500), releases its financial results after the closing bell.

Cisco (CSCO, Fortune 500) reported a drop in quarterly profit and sales late Wednesday, but the tech bellwether said it sees signs of a turnaround.

Banks: Regulators are due to reveal the results of their stress tests on 19 of the largest U.S. banks after the market close, but there has been a flurry of leaks in the run-up to the official release.

According to reports, Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) may need roughly $34 billion in capital while rivals Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500) and Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) have also been frequently mentioned in recent days as facing capital shortfalls.

Job market: At 8:30 a.m. ET, the Labor Department will release its weekly report on initial jobless claims. Economists expect 635,000 claims to have been filed in the week ended May 2, according to a consensus of economists surveyed by from Briefing.com.

World markets: Asian stocks finished the session in positive territory, with Japan’s Nikkei soaring nearly 5%. European markets were also higher, ahead of an expected rate cut from the European Central Bank. 

Oil and money: The dollar rose against the euro and the yen, but slipped versus the British pound. Oil prices jumped $1.45 a barrel to $57.79.