Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open on Thursday, as upbeat U.S. durable goods orders data continued to support and investors eyed the release of additional U.S. economic reports later in the day.
Ahead of the open, the Dow 30 futures pointed to a 0.21% gain, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.21% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.16% gain.
U.S. equities remained supported after upbeat U.S. durable goods orders figures on Wednesday indicated that economy is gaining momentum in the wake of a weather induced slowdown.
Investors were still cautious however, after U.S. President Barack Obama said late Wednesday that Russia's actions had to be condemned and he warned that "the isolation will deepen, sanctions will increase" for Russia.
Financial stocks were expected to be active, after Citigroup (NYSE:C)'s capital plan failed Federal Reserve stress test due to concerns over the quality of the bank's processes, sending shares down 5.02% in pre-market trade.
Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), however, won the Fed's approval for its first dividend increase since the financial crisis. Shares in the U.S. lender climbed 0.87% in extended trade. Separately, Chief Executive Officer Brian T. Moynihan gave in to shareholders' demand and raised the quarterly dividend to 5 cents.
King Digital Entertainment (KING.K) was also slated to be in the spotlight afterdeclining in its first day as a publicly traded company on Wednesday. The maker of the mobile game "Candy Crush" had priced its shares at $22.50 Tuesday after the market closed.
Elsewhere, Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) jumped 1.04% pre-market after dropping over 6% on Wednesday upon the announcement it acquired Oculus VR, which makes virtual-reality headsets.
Other stocks likely to be in focus included Accenture (NYSE:ACN), Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU), Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG), Commercial Metals (CMC), GameStop (NYSE:GME), Worthington Industries (WOR), Red Hat (NYSE:RHT) and Oxford Industries (OXM), all scheduled to report quarterly earnings later in the day.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were mixed. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 added 0.14%, France’s CAC 40 dipped 0.04%, Germany's DAX edged up 0.07%, while Britain's FTSE 100 retreated 0.41%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.24%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 rallied 1.01%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish final data on fourth quarter economic growth, as well as the weekly report on initial jobless claims and private sector data on pending home sales.