Stock index futures rose on Thursday as anxiety eased over Spain's sovereign debt and investors awaited key jobs and economic activity data expected to show the recovery is slowly on track.

The euro hit a three-week high versus the U.S. dollar after Spain's government drew strong demand for bond issues but paid a hefty premium compared with previous deals.

BP Plc's NY-traded ADRs were up 1 percent at $32.16 as investors welcomed a plan to set up a $20 billion fund to pay Gulf of Mexico oil spill claims. Chief Executive Tony Hayward faces grilling from U.S. lawmakers over the spill later Thursday.

Weekly jobless claims, due at 8:30 a.m. EDT, are expected to be down 6,000 at 450,000. Leading indicators for May are seen showing a 0.5 percent increase in economic activity, while the Philadelphia Fed business index for June is also seen at 20.9 versus May's 21.4. Both pieces of data come at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT).

The euro is up, and there's a little less fear over sovereign debt, said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners in New York.

If data indicates continued growth, the market will probably respond in a positive way.

S&P 500 futures rose 4.8 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures gained 42 points and Nasdaq 100 futures added 8.5 points.

Further easing worries over European sovereign debt, healthy demand at Hungary's government bond auctions showed the market is stabilizing after a fall earlier this month, a government official said.

Switzerland's parliament backed a Swiss-U.S. tax treaty crucial to the future of UBS .

Among companies set to report quarterly earnings are grocery chain Kroger Co .

In a big victory for the U.S. Federal Reserve, lawmakers working on a final version of a Wall Street reform bill, agreed to drop two provisions the Fed worried would subject it to outside influence.

Other data on tap Thursday include consumer price index numbers and U.S. Q1 current account figures, at 8:30 a.m. EDT.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

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