Futures for U.S. stock indices are rising ahead of the first trading session of the year.

Futures contracts for U.S. stock indices recorded a strong increase during trading ahead of the opening of the first sessions of the new year on Thursday, amid market anticipation for the release of unemployment claims data in the United States for last week, with expectations for a rise in U.S. unemployment claims by about 224,000 claims last week.

Before the opening, the following levels were recorded for U.S. stock index futures - March delivery:

• Futures contracts for the Dow Jones Industrial Average Dow Jones saw an increase of about 209.00 points, reaching 43,082.00 points.
• Futures contracts for the Nasdaq Index Nasdaq 100  recorded an increase of about 166.25 points, or 0.78%, to 21,392.75 points.
• Futures contracts for the Standard & Poor's S&P 500 rose by about 0.61%, reaching 5,972.25 points.