Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a modestly higher open on Thursday, as investors looked ahead to key U.S. economic data while awaiting a flurry of corporate earnings results.
During early morning hours in New York, the blue-chip Dow futures inched up 49 points, or 0.28%, the S&P 500 futures tacked on 8 points, or 0.39%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 18 points, or 0.41%.
On Wednesday, Wall Street ended lower as a sharp drop in Valeant Pharmaceutical (N:VRX) hit the healthcare sector, while the energy space dropped along with oil prices.
On the data front, the U.S. is to release a weekly report on initial jobless claims at 8:30AM ET Thursday, followed by data on existing home sales for September at 10:00AM.
Meanwhile, third quarter earnings season continues to gather pace. Caterpillar (N:CAT), McDonald's (N:MCD), Eli Lilly (N:LLY), Dow Chemical (N:DOW), Under Armour (N:UA), 3M (N:MMM) and Southwest Airlines (N:LUV) are due to report ahead of the opening bell.
And after the market closes, Google (O:GOOGL) parent Alphabet Inc (O:GOOGL), Microsoft (O:MSFT), Amazon (O:AMZN), Pandora Media (N:P), AT&T (N:T) and Capital One Financial (N:COF) are on the earnings docket.
Among active pre-market stocks, eBay (O:EBAY) shares rallied 8.9% after the online marketplace late Wednesday reported earnings ahead of expectations.
Texas Instruments (O:TXN) jumped 7.9% after the electronics company late Wednesday reported stronger-than-expected profit and revenue for its third quarter.
In Europe, equity markets traded mixed as investors awaited the European Central Bank's upcoming rate decision, to be followed by a closely-watched press conference.
That rate announcement is scheduled for 12:45PM London time, or 7:45AM ET, while ECB President Mario Draghi is to give a press conference on the central bank’s latest policy decision at 1:30PM London time, or 8:30AM ET.
No major policy changes are expected to be announced by Draghi, but he may stress that extra support in the future is possible, as fears linger about deflation and slowing global growth.
Elsewhere, in Asia, China's Shanghai Composite recovered from the prior day's sudden sell-off to close up 1.5%. The rest of the region closed mixed as weakness in commodity prices and an uninspiring overnight lead from Wall Street weighed.