Wall Street is set to start the session on an indecisive note on Thursday morning, reflecting investors' wait-and-see attitude on the eve of the release of employment figures for November.

Half an hour before the opening, futures contracts on the major New York indices are all hovering around their equilibrium points, a harbinger of an opening without much change.

U.S. equity markets had last night set a new flurry of all-time highs amid optimism over the prospect of tax cuts and deregulation with Donald Trump's forthcoming return to the White House.

With a gain of 0.6%, the S&P 500 - the benchmark index for US fund managers - set its 55th closing record of the year.

In a sign of the financial markets' enthusiasm, bitcoin overnight broke through the symbolic $100,000 barrier for the first time in its history, a milestone considered by specialists to be a "real turning point" for crypto-currencies.

Investors could be more cautious today as they await tomorrow's release of the official employment report from the Labor Department.

However, the announcement of a rise in weekly jobless claims this morning reinforced the scenario of a slowdown in the labor market.

Yesterday's slightly lower-than-expected ADP figures had already raised hopes that Friday's statistic would be worse than expected.

If the figures were too strong, investors might not welcome them, as they would increase the likelihood that the Fed would curb its measures to support the economy.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell yesterday described the US economy as being in "remarkable shape", confirming the institution's cautious approach to monetary policy.

Traders now place the probability of a rate cut this month at over 72%, compared with 66% a week ago, according to the FedWatch barometer of stock market operator CME Group.

On the currency markets, the euro began a sharp recovery against the dollar, to close at 1.0570, in the wake of the French government's fall from power, which was already priced in by analysts.

Government bond yields continue to hover around 4.22%, while on the oil front, the price of a barrel of light Texas crude advanced by 0.8% to $69.1, following OPEC's decision to extend its production cuts in order to support prices.

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