NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - U.S. futures pulled back on earlier gains early Thursday after two key economic reports on the nation's housing activity and the labor marketl missed forecasts.

U.S. stock futures indicated a tepid start to trading for stocks

Ahead of the opening bell, the government reported that the pace of housing starts held steady in May, but the reading on the strength of the real estate market came in slightly shy of Wall Street expectations.

The Census Bureau reported that housing starts came in at an annual pace of 2.01 million new homes in May, up 0.2 percent from the rate in April. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast starts would come in at a 2.05 million pace in May.

Separately, the number of Americans seeking first-time unemployment aid rose slightly last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday, following a sharp drop that came on the back of a holiday-shortened week.

Jobless claims edged up 1,000 to 333,000 in the week ended June 11, from the prior week's revised 332,000. The weekly increase defied Wall Street expectations for claims to hold steady at the original reading of 330,000 for the week ended June 4.

Oil prices were slightly higher after a rally Wednesday took prices above the $56 a barrel mark during intraday trading, following a government report that showed lower U.S. fuel supplies.

The July light crude contract gained 20 cents to $55.77 a barrel in electronic trading, while the August contract for Brent crude rose 28 cents to $55.52.

Major markets in Asia closed mixed Thursday, and major European markets were higher in early trading.

Treasury prices were lower, lifting the yield on the 10-year note to 4.12 percent from the 4.10 percent level late Wednesday. The dollar gained against on the yen and was little changed against the euro.

In corporate news, drugmaker and Dow component Pfizer (Research) announced a deal early Thursday to buy Vicuron Pharmaceuticals (Research) for $1.9 billion in cash.

The Wall Street Journal reported that dissident shareholders of investment bank Morgan Stanley (Research) are weighing whether to wage a proxy fight to oust members of the firm's board after Monday's announcement that CEO Philip Purcell planned to retire. The firms' critics, including many former top executives, had previously focused their attention on removing Purcel.

The Journal also reports that several big shareholders at MCI (Research) say a new effort to kill the company's $8.44 billion acquisition by Verizon Communications (Research) will only work if Qwest Communications (Research) submits a competing takeover offer. A Qwest spokesman declined to comment on the report.

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