NEW YORK—U.S. stock futures turned higher after two better-than-expected economic data reports encouraged investor sentiment, building on earlier gains that followed Germany's vote to expand the euro zone's bailout fund.
Less than an hour before the opening bell, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures advanced 145 points, or 1.3%, to 11118, while Standard & Poor's 500-stock index futures added 15 points, or 1.3%, to 1164, and Nasdaq 100 futures tacked on 29 points, or 1.3%, to 2248.
The number of idled U.S. workers filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell sharply last week, a surprise improvement in the U.S. employment picture, according to the Labor Department. In the second data point, gross domestic product, the broadest measure of all the goods and services produced in an economy, grew at an inflation-adjusted annual rate of 1.3% from April to June, the Commerce Department said. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast second-quarter GDP would be revised up to a 1.2% growth rate.
Both measures were still at relatively weak overall levels, highlighting the sluggishness of the economic recovery.
Before the data, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 93 points, Standard & Poor's 500-stock index futures had added 10 points and Nasdaq 100 futures tacked on 19 points to 2232.
Changes in stock futures don't always accurately predict stock moves after the opening bell.
The Dow is coming off a 180-point drop on Wednesday, when it reversed intraday gains of as much as 126 points amid continued worries over Europe's sovereign-debt crisis.
In overseas markets, European markets were mixed, with the Stoxx Europe 600 off 0.1%, but the losses shrank after Germany's parliament approved by a wide margin legislation to expand the euro zone's rescue fund, known as the European Financial Stability Facility.
All 17 euro-zone governments need to approve the expansion. Finland approved the expansion on Wednesday.
Asian bourses were mixed, with China's Shanghai Composite shedding 1.1% and Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rising 1%.
Copper futures fell more than 2% to a 14-month low around $3.16 a pound, after settling down 5.6% on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday. Gold futures fell about 0.3% to about $1614 an ounce after losing more than 2% Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude-oil futures edged higher to nearly $82 a barrel, after settling nearly 4% lower on Wednesday. The U.S. dollar lost ground against the euro and the Swiss franc, but ticked up against the yen.
The economic data docket is full, with data on pending home sales for August is due out at 10 a.m., and a reading on manufacturing activity in the Kansas City region is scheduled for 11 a.m.
In corporate news, shares of Advanced Micro Devices slumped 9.4% in premarket trading after the chip maker lower its revenue growth forecast and its margin estimate for the current quarter, citing manufacturing issues at a factory in Germany.
Mosaic ticked 0.9% higher after the fertilizer producer reported fiscal first-quarter results that met the upbeat forecast it issued a week ago.
Elsewhere, Chubb said it expected third-quarter pre-tax losses from catastrophes to be about $400 million to $475 million, including losses of $300 million to $375 million resulting from Hurricane Irene. The shares were inactive ahead of the open.
