Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open on Thursday, as markets awaited the release of U.S. economic reports later in the day, after home sales report on Wednesday disappointed.
Ahead of the open, the Dow 30 futures pointed to a 0.28% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.44% gain, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 1.48% jump.
U.S. equities ended the session lower on Wednesday after data showed that sales of new homes in the U.S. fell to the lowest level since July 2013 in March.
The Commerce Department reported that sales on new homes dropped 14.5% to a seasonally adjusted rate of 384,000. Market expectations had been for sales rate of 450,000.
General Electric (NYSE:GE) was expected to be active, with shares up 0.45% pre-market, amid reports it is in discussions to pay more than $13 billion for the French builder of trains and power plants, Alstom (ALSO.PAR), in its biggest acquisition ever.
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) was also likely to be in focus after the social-networking site late Wednesday reported first-quarter profit and revenue that blew past analysts’ estimates, sending the stock surging 4.71% in early trading.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) also surprised investors by announcing that 43.7 million iPhones were purchased in the fiscal second quarter after the handset became available through the world’s largest wireless carrier, China Mobile.
The news sent shares in the tech giant up 7.22% in extended trading.
Elsewhere, Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT) was up 0.14% after hours as the world’s largest retail chain announced the retirement of two directors, including former Chief Executive Officer Lee Scott, reducing its board to 14 members.
The company was said to be making the changes ahead of its annual gathering of shareholders in June.
Other stocks likely to be in focus included Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ), 3M Company (NYSE:MMM), General Motors (NYSE:GM), United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS), United Continental (NYSE:UAL) and Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX), all scheduled to report quarterly results later in the day.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were higher. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 climbed 0.58%, France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.80%, Germany's DAX gained 0.66%, while Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.59%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.24%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 retreated 0.97%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish data on durable goods orders and the weekly report on initial jobless claims.