1. Trump effect won’t stop

U.S. stocks closed at record highs again on Thursday - but will the rally continue?

U.S. stock futures are steady, and investors appear to be satisfied with taking a breather for now.

The Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 have each jumped by more than 2% so far this week. The Nasdaq is up more than 3%.

2. Global market overview

Stock markets around the world aren't making any big moves.

European stocks are mixed in early trading. Italian and Greek markets are each off by about 1%, but other indexes are sitting pretty.

Asian markets closed the week with mixed results.

One standout performer was Japan's Nikkei, which jumped 1.2% to just below 19,000 points. However, that's still below recent highs set in 2015 when the Nikkei was trading around 21,000 points.

3. Euro is on recovery mode

EUR/USD was steady at 1.0613, off lows of 1.0588 hit overnight after the European Central Bank said at its monthly policy meeting on Thursday that it would extend its asset purchase program for an additional nine months.

Beyond the program’s scheduled end in March 2017, the central bank said net asset purchases are intended to continue at a monthly pace of €60 billion until the end of December 2017, or beyond, if necessary.

In addition, the ECB left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record-low of zero, in line with forecasts.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 101.15, just off a four-day high of 101.35 hit overnight.

4. Consumer confidence jump?

The University of Michigan's consumer confidence index is being released at 15:00GMT.

U.S. consumer confidence rose sharply in November and the new figures are expected to show the good mood continued in early December. The stock market's record-breaking performance should probably help.