US STOCKS SNAPSHOT-Futures extend gains after retail sales data

U.S. stock index futures briefly extended gains on Thursday as investors cheered lower-than-expected retail sales data and looked for signs that an interest-rate cut from the Federal Reserve was imminent.

A Commerce Department report showed retail sales fell 0.8% in January, compared with the 0.1% slip expected by economists polled by Reuters.

At 8:35 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 82 points, or 0.21%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 9.5 points, or 0.19%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 39.75 points, or 0.22%.