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 Beyond the Commerce Department's final reading on fourth-quarter gross domestic product, investors will also be examining weekly unemployment claims figures. Both reports are due before the opening bell. Wall Street is still trying to determine how well the economy is holding up under strains including tightness in the credit markets, a weak housing sector and nervous consumers who have cut back their spending.
Investors also eyed oil prices, which were moving higher after an attack on a key oil pipeline in Iraq.
Wall Street will be examining comments from Federal Reserve officials for insights into how the economy, and specifically the financial sector, are faring. Several Fed officials are slated to speak Thursday.
Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 51, or 0.41 percent, to 12,434. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures advanced 8.10, or 0.61 percent, to 1,343.50. Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 8.50, or 0.47 percent, to 1,818.80. Stocks declined Wednesday
-- essentially the first losses in four sessions -- amid unease about the economy.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.49 percent from 3.46 percent late Wednesday. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.
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 Light, sweet crude rose $1.04 to $106.94 in premarket electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In corporate news, business software maker Oracle Corp. reported fiscal third-quarter earnings that met Wall Street's estimates but sales figures that fell well short of analysts' projections.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average closed down 0.80 percent. In morning trading, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.06 percent, Germany's DAX index advanced 1.22 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 1.01 percent.
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On the Net:
New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com/
Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com/
[Associated Press; By TIM PARADIS]
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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