NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - An upturn in oil prices could overcome some positive corporate news and send stocks lower when markets open Thursday.

At about 8:30 a.m. ET, major index futures were slightly lower, although a comparison to fair value pointed to a flat or mixed open. In early morning trading, stock futures had pointed to a higher open until oil prices increased.

U.S. light crude rose 32 cents to $66.68 a barrel in electronic trading. Brent crude was 13 cents higher at $64.06

Art Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co, pointed to news of a $1.6 billion purchase of broker BrownCo byE*Trade Financial (Research) as well as a report about Ford Motor Co. (Research) moving to cut costs by trimming the number of parts suppliers as among the factors lifting markets.

"On the whole, it appears there's more good news than bad news on the corporate side," he said earlier in the morning before stock futures flatten out. "Right now, we really have shifted in focus from the macroeconomic focus on just energy to what's going on in the corporate news front."

The weekly initial jobless claims report showed claims fell to 356,000 in the latest week from a revised 435,000. That's a sharper drop than the forecasted decline to 420,000.

Also released an hour before the market open was the final revision of second-quarter GDP, which remained at the 3.3 percent annual growth rate figure reported last month by the Commerce Department.

But the GDP report is a reminder that the third quarter is nearing an end, with portfolio managers adjusting their holdings to present the best possible picture when the reports go out next month.

Another boost for the market could be the positive signs from Asian markets, with Tokyo's Nikkei at a four-year peak and Seoul's Kospi setting a record. European markets edged lower in morning trade. (Check our premarket data page)

Treasury prices rose, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to 4.24 percent from 4.26 percent late Wednesday. The dollar was higher against the yen and lower versus the euro. Gold was higher in European trading.