U.S. futures pointed to a higher open on the Wall Street, with the strength coming from Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates amid mixed corporate earnings and economic data.
Mini Dow industrial average futures rose 65 points to 12,753.00. The Nasdaq Futures gained 6.25 points to 2,466.75. Standard and Poor's 500 futures were 6.20 points higher at 1,326.40.
On the economic front, the number of Americans who continued to receive jobless benefits rose more-than-forecast to 377,000 last week from a revised 356,000 in the prior period when it dropped to lowest in nearly four years, while economists projected an increase to 370,000.The four-week moving average for claims fell 2,500 to 377,500 last week, a data from the Labor Department showed.
Meanwhile, orders for durable goods rose more-than-expected to 3 percent following a revised 4.3 percent advance the prior month, the Commerce Department reported. Economists projected a 2 percent rise.
On Wednesday, U.S. stocks closed on a sharply higher note, erasing early losses, buoyed by the Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates at exceptionally low levels at least through late 2014 to boost economic growth.
Hot Stocks Of The Day: (CAT, NFLX, LSI, SNDK, MITI)
In corporate news, Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) advanced 3 percent in Thursday's premarket trading after the mining equipment maker reported strong quarterly earnings as demand grew. The company sees 2012 sales and revenues between $68 and $72 billion, up from $60.14 billion in 2011 and above consensus of $67.3 billion.
Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) jumped 19.8 percent to $113.92 in premarket trading after video renatl company posted better-than-forecast quarterly earnings. The company earned 73 cents a share in the fourth quarter, sailing past expectations of 55 cents a share. For the first quarter, the company sees a net loss between $9 million and $27 million on flat sequential revenue growth due to a sharp decline in DVD members.
LSI Corp. (NYSE:LSI) surged 10.1 percent to $7.80 in premarket trading after the maker of storage systems issued an upbeat revenue view. For the first quarter, the company expects non-GAAP earnings per share from continuing operations in the range of $0.09 to $0.15 on revenue between $550 million and $590 million. Analysts expect earnings of $0.10 per share on revenue of $509 million. LSI posted fourth-quarter non-GAAP earnings per share from continuing operations of 13 cents, ahead of consensus of 10 cents. Revenue was $523 million, below Wall Street projections of $526 million.
SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ:SNDK) dropped 8.6 percent in premarket trading to $47.81 after data storage services company posted a fall in quarterly earnings amid declining margins. Its fourth-quarter GAAP earnings declined to $281 million or $1.14 per share from $485 million or $2.01 per share in the year-ago quarter. Revenue rose 19 percent to $1.58 billion.
Micromet Inc. (NASDAQ:MITI) surged 32.9 percent to $11.01 after the biopharmaceutical company focused on cancer treatment agreed to be bought by Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) for $1.16 billion.
3M (MMM) and Colgate-Palmolive (COL) are among other companies that reported their quarterly numbers.
Global Markets:
The European markets traded sharply higher after reports that meeting between Greece and its creditors for a debt swap have made progress. Germany's DAX is up 1.76 percent to trade at 6,534.61. France's CAC40 gained 1.48 percent to 3,361.45. Britain's FTSE 100 advanced 1.37 percent to 5,801.17.
Market Scan:
Ahead of the opening bell, crude oil was trading higher by 1.34 percent at $100.73 per barrel. Gold gained 1.39 percent to $1,726.7 per ounce.
In the currency market, the euro strengthened 0.48 percent against the U.S. dollar to 1.3170, and the British pound gained 0.28 percent higher against the greenback. The dollar lost 0.26 percent against the Japanese yen to 77.5755.