US pre-open: Futures in the green ahead of advance GDP reading, earnings

Wall Street futures were trading higher ahead of the bell on Thursday ahead of some key data points and more corporate earnings.

As of 1220 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.27%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.32% and 0.56% firmer, respectively.

The Dow closed 266.19 points lower on Wednesday, slipping from its record high.

Corporate earnings will again be one of the session's primary focus, with another batch of big-name results scheduled for release throughout the course of the day.

First off, Bombardier said its quarterly loss had narrowed and revenues had increased 17% to $1.4bn amid heightened demand for its business jets, while toolmaker Stanley Black & Decker beat estimates with its adjusted third-quarter earnings.

Merck & Co posted an earnings beat on the top and bottom lines, while trade bellwether Caterpillar topped profit estimates but fell shy on revenue and Taco Bell parent company Yum! Brands traded higher prior to the open after earnings topped estimates.

Still to come, Hershey will report during the session, while Amazon, Apple, Starbucks, Western Digital and Gilead Sciences will all update on recent trading after the close.

On the macro front, this week's jobless claims report and an advance reading of Q3's gross domestic product growth rate will be firmly in focus, with both scheduled for publication at 1330 BST. Economists expect to see another 289,000 new jobless claims and an increase of 2.8% in GDP for the quarter.

Elsewhere, pending home sales data for September will follow at 1500 BST.