NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - A cold snap in the Northeast sent oil prices higher and could send a chill through stocks Thursday.

U.S. stock futures were mixed, with Nasdaq 100 futures slightly higher while Standard & Poor's 500 futures were down. But both were below fair value levels, indicating a lower open.

Oil prices, which slipped Wednesday on the U.S. fuel inventory report, were higher in early trading Thursday. Besides the cold weather, oil traders were looking ahead to Sunday's meeting of OPEC as well as the elections set for Iraq.

The March light crude contract gained 63 cents to $49.41 a barrel in electronic trading, while Brent crude rose 56 cents to $47.07.

Futures came off earlier lows after Nokia (Research), the world's largest maker of cell phones, reported better than expected sales and revenue in the fourth quarter. The Finnish company also gave first-quarter revenue guidance above forecasts, although earnings guidance was below forecasts.

Major Asian markets were mixed, as Japan's Nikkei lost ground on tech concerns while Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained. Major European markets were lower in early trading.

Among U.S. stocks trading in Europe, AT&T (Research) shares gained 9 percent in Frankfurt on reports in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times that SBC Communications (Research) was in discussions to buy its former parent.

U.S. stocks will start trading Thursday following a second day of gains, matching the longest rally seen in the rocky start of 2005 trading.

Bond prices fell, lifting the yield on the 10-year Treasury to 4.21 percent from 4.19 percent late Wednesday. The dollar gained on both the euro and the yen.

In economic reports, December durable goods orders gained 0.6 percent, down from the 1.4 percent rise posted in November and slightly below the 0.7 percent improvement forecast by economists surveyed by Briefing.com.

Initial jobless claims filed last week rose to 325,000, slightly below the 330,000 forecast by economists.

Consumer electronics and media conglomerate Sony (Research) reported improved earnings in its fiscal third quarter, helped by strong sales of its Spider-Man 2 DVD. But its core electronics business resulted in lower overall sales.

Among U.S. companies, Starbucks (Research) reported a strong gain in earnings after the market close Wednesday that edged past forecasts, although its guidance of current quarter sales and earnings that was at or below the current consensus levels. That sent shares down 99 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $54.35 in after-hours trading.

Dell (Research) , the world's largest maker of personal computer, expects to see its sales grow significantly faster than the overall market in 2005 and maintain its healthy margins, Chairman and CEO Michael Dell said at an economic forum in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday.

Dow component Verizon Communications (Research) posted improved results that hit forecasts, and United Parcel Service (Research), the world's largest transportation company, posted improved earnings slightly better than its December guidance, which had cut expectations.

The major earnings report of the day comes after the close when software provider Microsoft (Research) is set to report.