U.S. futures higher, earnings in focus; Dow Jones up 0.31%

U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open on Thursday, as investors eyed a fresh batch of earnings reports as well as U.S. jobless data to be released later in the day, while expectations for an upcoming rate cut by the European Central Bank persisted. 

Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.31% gain, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.26% rise, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.37% increase. 

Investor confidence weakened on Wednesday after data showed that U.S. durable goods orders dropped 5.7% in March, much worse than expectations for a decline of 2.8%. 

Core durable goods orders, which exclude transportation items, fell 1.4%, compared to expectations for a 0.5% increase. 

But stocks remained globally supported after disappointing German economic data earlier in the week fuelled expectations over a possible rate cut by the ECB. 

Tech stocks were expected to remain active, after chipmaker LSI Corp reported quarterly results above analysts' estimates and forecast current-quarter revenue largely above expectation, sending shares up 1.57% in pre-market trade. 

Separately, hard disk drive maker Western Digital soared 3.97% in late trading, after forecasting current-quarter revenue largely above analysts' expectations. 

On the downside, Citrix Systems saw shares plummet 11.27% after hours, as the cloud computing software maker forecast a lower-than-expected profit for the current quarter as its customers reduce IT spending and delay orders. 

U.S. life insurer Aflac was also likely to be in focus after it reported a better-than-expected 13% rise in quarterly profit. 

In company news, Verizon Communications was slated to move amid reports the company hired advisers to prepare a possible USD100 billion cash and stock bid to take full control of Verizon Wireless from joint venture partner Vodafone Group. 

Verizon shares were down 0.29% in extended trading. 

Other stocks in focus included Bristol-Myers Squibb, Exxon Mobil, UPS, Colgate-Palmolive, Dow Chemical, NY Times, Harley-Davidson, Southwest Air and United Continental, as well as 3M, all due to report earnings later in the day. 

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were mixed to lower. The EURO STOXX 50 retreated 0.45%, France’s CAC 40 slid 0.30%, Germany's DAX added 0.11%, while Britain's FTSE 100 edged down 0.14%. 

During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 0.98%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index gained 0.6%. 

Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce the weekly government report on initial jobless claims.

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