U.S. stock futures were rising Thursday after a surprise cooldown in a key inflation measure appeared to boost the chances that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at some point this year. Core consumer price inflation,

Stocks are set to extend their biggest gain since the November election with jobs and retails sales data in focus.

US stocks gained after cooler-than-expected producer price index data soothed inflation concerns. The numbers on Tuesday showed wholesale inflation rose 0.2% in December on a monthly basis, compared to an estimated 0.4% increase. The reading climbed 3.3% from a year ago, below the projected 3.5% gain.

British equities were broadly higher on Thursday, building on their strong gains seen in the last session as markets eyed potential interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year following an easing core inflation reading.

The stock market's stiffest headwind, a surge in Treasury bond yields, was blown aside Wednesday by a surprisingly benign inflation report, which could rekindle bets on multiple Federal Reserve rate cuts before year-end.