Investing.com – U.S. futures inched forward on Thursday as investors look ahead to corporate earnings and monitor news for geopolitical and trade developments.
The S&P 500 futures rose 2 points, or 0.10%, to 2,858.0 as of 6:50 AM ET (10:50 GMT) while Dow futures were up 12 points, or 0.05%, to 25,548.0. Meanwhile tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures increased 7 points, or 0.10%,to 7,478.75.
Media companies are in focus as dozens of companies release their corporate results as earnings season winds down. Nearly 90% of S&P 500 companies have released results, with 77% reporting better than expected profits, according to FactSet.
Viacom Inc (NASDAQ:VIA), the parent company of MTV, Nickelodeon and Paramount, is expected to release its earnings before the opening bell. News Corp (NASDAQ:NWSA), Tronc Inc (NASDAQ:TRNC), Dropbox Inc (NASDAQ:DBX), Planet Fitness Inc (NYSE:PLNT), and others are also reporting financial results.
Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP) was among the top gainers in pre-market trading, surging 16.09% after its second-quarter financial results came in higher than expected. Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) increased 0.55% while Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) gained 0.92% and Roku Inc (NASDAQ:ROKU) rose 12.17% after its corporate earnings beat expectations.
Elsewhere Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) fell 0.90% while semiconductor Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) was down 1.16% and JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) lost 0.68%.
On the data front, jobless claims and the producer price index come out at 8:30 AM ET (12:30 GMT), with wholesale inventories at 10:00 AM ET (13:00 GMT). Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans is also speaking in a group media interview in Chicago.
In Europe stocks were mixed. Germany’s DAX rose 39 points or 0.31% while in France the CAC 40 decreased 9 points or 0.17% and in London, the FTSE 100 was down 51 points or 0.67%. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 gained over half a point or 0.02% while Spain’s IBEX 35 inched down 6 points or 0.06%.
In commodities, gold futures rose 0.14% to $1,222.70 a troy ounce while crude oil futures were down 0.04% to $66.91 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, inched up 0.08% to 95.03.