European Central Bank President Mario Draghi on Thursday said the central bank would launch an "outright monetary transaction," or OMT, program in the secondary market, under strict conditionality. This would allow the ECB to decide when to start, continue or suspend bond buys. Draghi said OMTs "enable [the ECB] to address severe distortions in government bond markets which originate from, in particular, unfounded fears on the part of investors of the reversibility of the euro."

In economic news, private-sector job growth picked up in August, recording the largest employment gain in five months. Private-sector payrolls rose by 201,000 in August, led by small businesses and the service-providing sector, beating Wall Street’s expectations. ADP revised July’s level to an increase of 173,000 from a prior estimate of 163,000.

Investors on Thursday moved into risk-on mode on the news as futures are up over 0.5% in premarket trading.