(By Balachander) U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher opening on the Wall Street as investors weighed corporate earnings reports, including International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), Morgan Stanley (MS) and EBay Inc. (EBAY).
Mini Dow Industrial Average futures added 50 points to 12,910. The Nasdaq Futures gained 17.25 points to 2,637.25. Standard and Poor's 500 futures rose 5.80 points to 1,373.10.
On the U.S. economic front, the number of Americans who continued to receive jobless benefits rose more than forecast for the week ended July 14, a government data showed. Jobless claims increased 34,000 to 386,000 last week from a revised 352,000, also coming in higher than economists expectations of 365,000 applications.
Meanwhile, a report from the National Association of Realtors may show existing home sales for June rose to 4.65 million from 4.55 million in the prior month.
On Wednesday, U.S. stocks ended in green, buoyed by some upbeat corporate earnings reports amid continued hopes for additional monetary stimulus.
Hot Stocks Of The Day: IBM, EBAY, MS, QCOM, SHW, UNP, PM, MLNX, VZ, SWKS, SCSS
In corporate news, International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) added 2.59 percent in premarket after the technology behemoth raised its full-year guidancedue to strong quarterly performance. Its second quarter earnings exceeded Wall Street expectations.
eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) shares jumped 7.07 percent in premarket after the online auction site reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, boosted by strong performance of its PayPal and marketplaces businesses.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) shares fell 3.93 percent in premarket trading after the financial services giant posted weaker-than-forecast quarterly revenue amid a 35 percent slump in investment banking revenue.
Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) reported that net earnings increased 17 percent and revenue jumped 28 percent for the third quarter. But, quarterly earnings and revenue trailed market expectations and the cell phone chip maker guided fourth quarter below consensus. Shares added 5.08 percent in premarket.
Sherwin-Williams Co. (NYSE:SHW) fell 2.47 percent and Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE:UNP) added 2.28 percent, following their quarterly reports.
Mellanox Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:MLNX) rallied 43.18 percent after the fabless semiconductor company delivered stronger-than-forecast earnings and revenue for the second quarter.
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) lost 1.46 percent in premarket after the company's quarterly revenuefell shy of consensus.
Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) added 1.07 percent after the Marlboro cigarette maker reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue helped by higher volumes from the EEMA region.
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:SWKS) jumped 8.86 percent in premarket after the semiconductor company posted quarterly earnings and revenue that came in above market expectations.
Select Comfort Corp. (NASDAQ:SCSS) soared 22.42 percent in premarket after the Minnesota-based bed retailer posted upbeat quarterly earnings on double-digit sales growth and improvement in margins.
Global Markets:
European markets traded higher, with Germany's DAX up 1.03 percent to trade at 6,753.55. France's CAC40 added 0.79 percent to trade at 3,260.80. U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.19 percent to trade at 5,696.67.
Asian markets closed higher, with China's Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index adding 0.73 percent to finish at 2,184.84. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.79 percent to end at 8,795.55. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rallied 1.66 percent to end at 19,559.05. India's BSE Sensex finished at 17,278.85, up 0.55 percent.
Market Scan:
Ahead of the opening bell, crude oil futures rallied 1.45 percent to $91.170 per barrel. Gold futures rose 1.06 percent to $1,587.4 per ounce.
In the currency market, the euro traded 0.09 percent lower against the U.S. dollar at 1.2272 while the British pound added 0.33 percent against the greenback to 1.5704. The dollar slipped 0.27 percent against the Japanese yen to 78.5900.