Stocks: Bracing for a busy day

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Thursday will be a busy day for markets, as investors prepare for an onslaught of U.S. economic data, debt talks continue in Greece and more than 200 companies report their quarterly results.

S&P 500 (SPX), Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) and Nasdaq (COMP) futures were up between 0.2% and 0.5% ahead of the opening bell after a report on initial unemployment claims was slightly worse than expected but remained below 400,000.

Stock futures indicate the possible direction of the markets when they open at 9:30 a.m. ET.

Investors are still waiting for news out of Athens, where Greek officials are negotiating with private-sector creditors to reduce the country's debt burden.

Greece is in desperate need of an agreement to receive additional bailout funds from the European Union and International Monetary Fund. Without these funds, the country may not be able to make a €14 billion debt payment that's due March 20.

Investors also have a full slate of economic data to sort through.

A report showed first-time claims for unemployment benefits rose last week. Still to come Thursday morning are reports on durable goods orders and new home sales.

Dow components AT&T (T, Fortune 500), Caterpillar (CAT, Fortune 500) and 3M (MMM, Fortune 500) report their quarterly results. In addition, the Conference Board will release the latest installment of its Leading Economic Indicators Index.

U.S. stocks shaved early losses and ended higher Wednesday, after the Federal Reserve said it plans to keep interest rates near historic lows through late 2014.

The Fed, which issued a statement at the end of a two-day policy meeting, had previously said it would hold rates low through mid-2013.

World markets: European stocks rose in afternoon trading. Britain's FTSE 100 (UKX) gained 1.2%, the DAX (DAX) in Germany jumped 1.5% and France's CAC 40 (CAC40) added 1.1%.

Asian markets ended mixed. The Hang Seng (HSI) in Hong Kong added 1.6% while Japan's Nikkei (N225) fell 0.4%. Shanghai was closed for Chinese New Year.

Economy: Initial jobless claims for the week ended Jan. 21 rose to 377,000, up from a revised 356,000 the week prior, according to the Labor Department. Economists had anticipated 375,000 claims, according to a survey of analysts by Briefing.com.

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Durable orders for the month of December rose 3% in December. Economists had expected orders to have risen 2%.

Later Thursday morning a report on new home sales for December is expected to show sales hit 321,000. Meanwhile, the Conference Board's Leading Economic Indicators Index for December is expected to have risen by 0.7%.

Companies: Caterpillar shares rose 2.5% after the construction equipment maker announced earnings and revenue that both beat market expectations.

AT&T shares fell 2% after the company reported quarterly earnings that fell short of forecasts, but revenue that beat expectations.

Netflix (NFLX) shares surged 17.8% in premarket trading after the company reported better-than-expected earnings and sales late Wednesday. The streaming video and DVD-by-mail company said it began to add customers again last quarter, after a series of blunders damaged its reputation with consumers and investors.

Nokia (NOK) shares climbed 7.4% in premarket trading after the mobile phone maker posted a fourth-quarter loss of €1.1 billion, and sales slumped 21% compared to the same period a year earlier. Chief Executive Officer Stephen Elop said the Finnish company has sold well over 1 million Lumia devices, a smartphone using Microsoft (MST) Windows Phone software.

Currencies and commodities: The dollar fell against the euro, the British pound and the Japanese yen.

Oil for March delivery added $1.50 to $100.90 a barrel.

Gold futures for February delivery gained $15 to $1,715.10 an ounce.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury rose, pushing the yield down to 1.95% from 2.01% late Wednesday.