5 Things You Should Know Before the Stock Market Opens

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- U.S. stock futures were suggesting a flat to slightly higher open for Wall Street Thursday as traders get back to work after the July Fourth holiday in the U.S.

European stocks were trading mixed ahead of central bank decisions in the region. Asian shares ended mixed. Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 0.3% to 9,079.80.

U.S. stocks on Tuesday finished the holiday-shortened session with solid gains after data on factory orders in May came in slightly better than expected and June vehicle sales were strong.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 72 points, or 0.56%, to close at 12,944.

The economic calendar in the U.S. Thursday includes Automatic Data Processing's June employment report at 8:15 a.m. EDT, weekly jobless claims from the Labor Department at 8:30 a.m., and the Institute for Supply Management's June non-manufacturing index at 10 a.m.

The Bank of England is scheduled to unveil a policy decision at 7 a.m. Economists are expecting a third round of quantitative easing from the BOE.

The European Central Bank unveils its rate decision at 7:45 a.m.; some analysts expect the ECB to cut lending rates by half a percentage point to a record low.

General Electric(XOM) is delaying plans to build the biggest solar factory in the U.S. in Aurora, Colo., near Denver.

The Denver Post reported GE has told state and local officials that it plans to postpone construction of its PrimeStar solar panel plant by 14 to 18 months. The plant will have an annual capacity of 400 megawatts.

Volkswagen, Europe's biggest automaker, said it would complete the takeover of Porsche by the end of June.

Porsche, the maker of sports cars, will become a fully integrated brand of Volkswagen as of Aug. 1.

-- Written by Joseph Woelfel

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