The future struggles to find direction ahead of earnings and economic data. By Reuters

© Reuters. Traders are working on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on February 7, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures see-sawed in a narrow range on Thursday after strengthening on Wall Street a day earlier ahead of big earnings reports and as investors waited for data that could provide clues about the health of the economy.

Major stock indices ended the previous session on a strong note as investors looked at uncertainty about the timing of interest rate cuts and unease about the stability of some regional banks and praised the solid performance of U.S. companies.

On Wednesday, the benchmark index hit a record high of 5,000 points, while the Nasdaq is about 2.8% away from hitting a record high in November 2021, helped by an ongoing rally in the technology and technology sectors. -Adjacent stocks.

A tap before the start bell rings will give you a quarterly report. Spirit Airlines (NYSE:), Tapestry (NYSE:), Hershey, Conocophillips (NYSE:) and Philip Morris (NYSE:).

LSEG data earlier this week showed that more than half of S&P 500 companies reported quarterly earnings, with 81.2% exceeding profit expectations, a significant improvement over the long-term average of 67%.

In terms of economic data, unemployment claims for the week ending February 3 are due at 8:30 a.m. ET, with economists expecting them to fall to 220,000 from 224,000 the previous week.

Comments from policymakers are also on investors’ watchlist, with voting member and Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin expected to speak later in the day.

Central banks have said all week that more confidence is needed to get inflation down to 2%, signaling little urgency to begin easing policies soon or to act quickly once they do.

Among the pre-market movers, Walt Disney (NYSE:) rose 6.6% after the media giant hit back at activist investors with market-beating profits, gaming investments and plans to launch an ESPN streaming service in 2025. The company also announced a $3 billion stock repurchase plan and a 50% stock repurchase plan. Dividend % increase.

At 5:45 a.m. ET, it was down 23 points, or 0.06%, down 4.75 points, or 0.09%, and down 7 points, or 0.04%.

inter alia New York Community Bancorp (NYSE:) fell 4.7% on the day after the lender said it would appoint a new executive chairman to try to bolster investor confidence and reduce exposure to the troubled commercial real estate sector.

Arm surged 24% after the British tech company forecast higher-than-expected quarterly sales and profits as it aims to help customers design new chips for artificial intelligence tasks and generate higher royalties.

PayPal (NASDAQ:)’s forecast for steady growth in adjusted profits this year overshadowed a market-beating earnings report, sending the payments giant’s shares down 8.6%.