Futures up, may extend Wall Street's biggest gain in a year

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edged higher on Thursday, indicating the previous session's massive rally could be extended amid relief over the Federal Reserve's interest rate policy.

* Major indexes posted their biggest one-day jump of the year on Wednesday in a broad advance after the Federal Reserve reassured investors its first rate hike would come when economic data pointed to an economy that could grow without Fed stimulus, rather than on a specific schedule.

* Wednesday's was the latest in a series of volatile sessions; the S&P 500 moved 45.11 points from its high to its low, its biggest intraday move since February. Any follow-through to the rise could be a sign that momentum has swung to the upside, and investors will be looking for the S&P to break above its 14-day and 50-day moving averages. The index hasn't closed above either since Sept. 19.

* Based on its Wednesday close, the S&P is 2.2 percent below its record close while the Russell 2000 is 9.3 percent away from its record, moving out of the 10 percent threshold that represents a correction. The CBOE Volatility index fell 12.2 percent to 15.11 on Wednesday.

* Investors are looking ahead to jobless claims data, which are due at 8:30 a.m. EDT and are seen rising to 294,000 from 287,000 last week.

Futures snapshot at 0643 EDT:

* S&P 500 e-minis were up 4 points, or 0.2 percent, with 200,266 contracts changing hands.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 12.25 points, or 0.3 percent, in volume of 25,886 contracts.

* Dow e-minis <1YMc1> were up 13 points, or 0.08 percent, with 29,211 contracts changing hands.

(Editing by Bernadette Baum)