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.
The Dow Jones futures were up 0.3%, S&P 500 futures advanced 0.35% and the Nasdaq 100 futures tacked on 0.4%.
On the data front, the U.S. is to release a weekly report on initial jobless claims at 8:30AM ET, 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) and 3M (N:MMM) are due to report ahead of the opening bell.
And after the market closes, Google (O:GOOGL) parent Alphabet, Microsoft (O:MSFT) and Amazon (O:AMZN) 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.