U.S. futures higher ahead of data; Dow Jones up 0.33%

Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open on Thursday, as investors eyed the release of U.S. economic reports later in the day, although global growth concerns continued to linger.

Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.33% increase, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.32% rise, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.32% gain.

Investors remained cautious after weaker-than-expected first quarter growth numbers from China earlier in the week, along with recent disappointing U.S. data underlined fears over the outlook for global growth.

On Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund said continued monetary stimulus by the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan was expected to continue to support growth in the U.S. and Japan, while the euro zone still posed the greatest threat to a recovery in the global economy.

Tech stocks were expected to be active, after a key Apple supplier, chipmaker Cirrus Logic , gave a disappointing revenue forecast on Wednesday, fueling worries about weakening demand for the iPhone and iPad.

Shares in the tech giant were up 0.30% in pre-market trade.

Among earnings, American Express, the biggest U.S. credit-card issuer by customer spending, reported late Wednesday a first-quarter profit that exceeded analysts' estimates as consumers boosted purchases.

EBay plummeted 2.35% pre-market, after reporting first-quarter revenue that missed estimates and forecast disappointing sales and profit for the current period, as weakness in Europe weighs on growth at its PayPal unit.

In the financial sector, Bank of America's revenue from fixed-income trading reportedly declined the most among peers in the first quarter, eroding the biggest profit source of the firm’s Merrill Lynch investment bank.

However, shares in the U.S. lender climbed 0.51% in early trading.

Other stocks in focus included results include Morgan Stanley, Google, Microsoft, IBM, Advanced Micro Devices, Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold and Verizon, due to report earnings later in the day.

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were higher. The EURO STOXX 50 gained 0.71%, France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.74%, Germany's DAX added 0.41%, while Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.39%.

During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slipped 0.29%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index tumbled 1.22%.

Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on initial jobless claims and the Philly Fed manufacturing index.