NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Stock futures aimed even higher before the opening bell Thursday following fresh economic reports, helped by a bullish outlook by leading cell phone maker Nokia, and despite worries about the showdown over the Iranian nuclear program.

U.S. stock futures were positive at 8:30 a.m. ET, indicating a higher open for U.S. markets, after Nokia (Research), the largest maker of cell phones, raised its industry forecast, saying it now sees 15 percent growth in 2006 rather than the 10 percent gain it previously forecast.

"There's a lot weighing on the market, so a nice boost in technology could put a little wind in the market's sails," said Jason Leander, vice president at Rothschild Investment. "You've got a market that is cautious and tentative. Yesterday was a nice rise. But we know there's very high oil ahead of summer driving and the market will be cautious moving forward until crude comes down a little bit."

Oil prices were mixed following the unanimous vote in the U.N. Security Council late Wednesday that gave Iran 30 days to suspend uranium enrichment, and the response of Iran's U.N. ambassador that the No. 2 oil exporter in OPEC has an "inalienable right" to pursue its nuclear program.

The May light crude futures contract for NYMEX fell 2 cents to $66.43 a barrel in electronic trading early Thursday, while the May contract for Brent crude rose 58 cents to $66.13

The final reading on fourth quarter U.S. gross domestic product fell in line with expectations as it was revised to a 1.7 percent annual rate, from the previous estimate of 1.6 percent.

But despite the sluggish growth in the period, economists and investors are already looking ahead to much stronger advances in the broad measure of economic activity in the first quarter, with many economists seeing an increase of 5 percent or more.

The Labor Department also reported that jobless claims fell 10,000 to 302,000 in the week ended March 25, from an upwardly revised 312,000 in the prior week. Economists polled by Reuters expected claims to increase to 305,000.

Major markets in Asia closed higher Thursday, with Japan's Nikkei topping 17,000 for the first time since August 2000. Major European markets were up in early trading.

Treasury prices turned lower, raising the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 4.83 percent from 4.80 percent late Wednesday. The dollar was lower against the euro and the yen.

In corporate news, General Motors (Research) is close to a deal to sell a majority stake in its finance arm, GMAC to an investor group led by Cerberus Capital Management, according to a note from the Wall Street Journal. GM is also reportedly weighing a sale of its nearly 8 percent stake in Japanese car maker Isuzu Motors (Research). Shares of GM were little changed in Frankfurt trading early Thursday.

Internet bellwether Google (Research) announced after the close Wednesday that it would issue 5.3 million additional shares of its stock to meet demands of S&P 500 Index funds. The shares is estimated to raise $2.1 billion. Google is being added to the benchmark index Friday.

Shares of Google fell 3 percent in after-hours trading on the announcement.

For a more detailed look at the markets before the open, click here.