Wall Street was poised to sustain its upward momentum on Thursday morning, with investors continuing to feel more comfortable with the likely future course of monetary policy after comments from Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday afternoon. That had stock market futures moving slightly higher before the regular trading session began at 9:30 a.m. ET on Thursday.

One notable area of weakness was in the retail industry group. Investors have watched closely to see whether retail stocks would do well during the holiday season, but the latest news from several companies showed that there are still plenty of strains on retailers that could take a while to work through the system.

A pair of discount retailers reported financial results that didn't inspire shareholders. Stock prices for both Dollar General (NYSE: DG) and Big Lots (NYSE: BIG) were lower on Thursday morning.

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Source Fool.com