U.S. stock futures shrugged off earlier gloom and edged higher on Thursday after earnings from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley beat expectations while jobless claims ticked up by less than expected.
Morgan Stanley , General Electric and PepsiCo also rose in premarket action after releasing their quarterly results.
Futures were lower earlier following soft earnings reports from Google and IBM after market close on Wednesday.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJM4) were last up 17 points, or 0.1%, at 16,348, while those for the S&P 500 index (SPM4) were last up 3 points, or 0.2%, at 1,855.70. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index (NDM4) rose 12.75 points, or 0.4%, to 3,514.25.
The moves came after all three benchmarks closed in positive territory on Wednesday after upbeat industrial-production data and more dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen . The Fed chief noted that the central bankers and many economists see a return to full employment and stable prices by the end of 2016, which would be the strongest economy in a decade.
The number of people who applied for unemployment-insurance benefits ticked up by 2,000 to 304,000 in the week that ended April 12 , a slight increase from the lowest level since 2007, signaling that employers are maintaining a slow pace of layoffs, according to government data released Thursday.
At 10 a.m. Eastern Time , the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia will publish its monthly reading on regional manufacturers, with the gauge expected to show a slight improvement to 10 in April, from 9 in March.
Thursday has one of the busiest earnings schedules in the results season, and there also were notable reports late Wednesday.
Shares of IBM Corp. ( IBM ) dropped 4.5% after the tech bellwether late Wednesday reported an eighth-straight quarter of revenue declines and missed analyst expectations.
It was the same story for Google Inc. (GOOG) (GOOGL), which dropped 1.9% ahead of the opening bell after a disappointing earnings report published late Wednesday.
American Express Co. (AXP) fell 0.6% in premarket action after it reported quarterly revenue that missed expectations late Wednesday.
But before the open Thursday, other reports from big names were more encouraging.
Banking giant Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) gained 2.4% in premarket trading after it reported first-quarter earnings per share of $4.02 on revenue of $9.33 billion , above expectations. Peer firm Morgan Stanley (MS), also reporting ahead of the bell, rose 2.7% in premarket action after its profit topped estimates.
General Electric Co. (GE) said it made an adjusted 33 cents a share in the first quarter, slightly beating FactSet estimates of 32 cents a share. Shares gained 1.8% before the open.
UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH) edged down 0.5% premarket after its earnings beat expectations, but revenue missed.
In other earnings news on Thursday, DuPont Co. (DD) reported adjusted first-quarter earnings of $1.58 a share, up from $1.56 in the year-ago period. Shares slipped 0.8% in premarket.
PepsiCo Inc. (PEP) posted quarterly earnings and revenue that beat expectations. Shares were up 2.1% premarket.
Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) shares rose 2.7% in premarket as its first-quarter profit and revenue surged, largely attributed to a 13.4% jump in same-store sales.
Shares of Sabre (SABR), the travel-tech firm which owns the Travelocity website, and Weibo ( WB ), China's microblog equivalent of Twitter, are expected to attract attention when they debut on the market Thursday. Sabre said late Wednesday its initial public offering had priced at $16 a share, while Weibo priced at $17 , the low end of its range, while selling fewer shares than expected.
In other financial markets, European stocks traded mostly lower amid escalating tensions in Ukraine after three pro- Russia activists were killed and 13 wounded in fighting. Asia markets closed mostly higher. Oil prices inched higher, while metals were little changed.
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