US pre-open: Futures trade higher ahead as bond yields stabilise

Wall Street futures were pointing to another positive session for stocks as market participants continued to eye bond yields and corporate earnings.

As of 1240 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.09%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.11% and 0.16% firmer, respectively.

The Dow closed 286.01 points higher on Wednesday as strong second-quarter earnings continued to flow in.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was slightly higher early on Thursday at 1.29%, up from the 1.17% seen earlier in the week that startled investors.

As always, market participants will be eyeing this week's jobless claims report from the Department of Labor at 1330 BST, with economists expecting to see the number of first-time filings to fall to 350,000, from the prior reading of 360,000.

Economic reopening plays were also in focus ahead of the bell, with names like Royal Caribbean trading higher, while energy stocks steamed ahead after oil rebounded back above $70 a barrel and bank shares were also in the green as a result of the stable yields during the pre-market.

Also in the corporate space, second-quarter earnings from AT&T topped analysts estimates, while CSX shares advanced after the railroad operator said second-quarter profits more than doubled.

Going the other way, Texas Instruments was weighing on tech stocks after the chipmaker topped expectations but cautioned that third-quarter results would likely fall short of estimates.

Intel, Snap, Capital One and Twitter will all report after the close.

On the macro front, the Chicago Fed's national activity index for June will be published at 1330 BST, as will this week's jobless claims data and existing home sales figures, while the Conference Board's leading index will be released at 1500 BST and the Kansas Fed's July manufacturing index will follow at 1600 BST.