Earnings season is really revving up on Thursday.
Click chart for in-depth premarket data.
Here are the five things you need to know before the opening bell rings in New York:
1. Earnings bonanza: Big U.S. banks Wells Fargo and Bank of America are reporting earnings ahead of the bell, alongside Delta Air Lines and BlackRock .
Some of the key companies that reported earlierthis week were JPMorgan Chase and Alcoa .
2. Economics: The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported new inflationdata at 8:30 a.m. ET, showing consumer prices rose 0.9% in March compared to last year. The Federal Reservekeeps a close eye on this number when it makes interest rate decisions.
The Bank of Englandopted to keep interest rates unchanged at 0.5% on Thursday, as expected.
China will post its first quarter GDP at 10 p.m. ET on Thursday -- or 10 a.m. local time on Friday.
A CNNMoney survey of economistspredicts that the world's second-largest economy grew at the slowest pace in seven years during the first quarter.
3. Stock market movers -- Chesapeake Energy, Burberry: Shares in Chesapeake Energy are volatile in premarket trading after they skyrocketed by about 60%earlier this week. Investors bid shares higher as worries subsided about a liquidity crunch at the oil and natural gas company.
Shares in Burberry are dropping by about 6% in London trading, after the fashion companyreported worse-than-expected half year results.
4. International markets overview: U.S. stock futuresare firming up, while European marketsare looking a bit soft in afternoon trading.
Asian marketsmostly ended the day with gains.
Crude oil futures are edging up to trade around $42 per barrel. Gold is down a bit, though the price has rallied by 17%since the start of the year.
5. Wednesday market recap: Stock markets were perky on Wednesday.
The Dow Jones industrial averagejumped 1.1%, the S&P 500rose by 1% and the Nasdaqrallied by 1.6%.
This follows another strong session on Tuesday.