US Stocks: Futures edge up ahead of jobs data, recession fears loom.

U.S. stock index futures edged up on Thursday ahead of weekly jobless claims data, while fears of an impending recession brought on by an aggressive Federal Reserve kept investors on edge.

The Labor Department's report at 8:30 a.m. ET is likely to show a marginal uptick in the initial claims for state unemployment benefits to 230,000 for the week ended Dec. 3.

Last Friday, data showed U.S. employers hired more workers than expected in November and increased wages, spurring fears that the Federal Reserve might stick to a longer rate-hike cycle as it attempts to tame inflation.

Further, producer price index and the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment survey on Friday and November's consumer price data next week will also be in focus for more clues on the Fed's policy decision on Dec. 14.

Investors see a 93% chance that the U.S. central bank will hike the key benchmark rate by 50 basis points to 4.25%-4.50%, with the rates peaking in May 2023 at 4.93%.

The U.S. central bank has raised its policy rate by 375 basis points this year to a 3.75%-4.00% range from near zero, the fastest rate hikes since the 1980s.

This aggressive approach by the central bank has stoked worries of a recession, with top executives of major U.S. banks and institutions including  JP Morgan, BlackRock and Citi forecasting a likely economic downturn in 2023.

Most mega-cap technology and growth stocks such as Alphabet Inc, Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp, Tesla Inc and Meta Platforms Inc edged higher in premarket trading.

Salesforce Inc slipped 1.4% after Baird downgraded the software firm's stock to 'neutral', while Rent the Runway Inc jumped 15.4% after the clothing rental firm raised its 2022 revenue forecast, signaling strong demand.