Stocks set for early gains

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- U.S. stocks were set to rise Thursday, as investors attempted to shake off worries about slowing economic growth and looked to corporate earnings.

Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq (COMP) futures were higher.

Futures measure current index values against perceived future performance.

Stocks dropped Wednesday as fears about the economy and the pace of recovery hit confidence.

"There doesn't seem to be any long-term conviction in the market," said Dan Cook, a senior market analyst at IG Markets. "We could face some headwinds as we start to see the negative economic reports in the headlines rather than all these positive reports on earnings."

Earnings: But with a lack of major economic reports on tap for Thursday, investors are likely to turn their attention back to earnings reports.

Before the opening bell, Exxon Mobil (XOM, Fortune 500) posted earnings that easily beat Wall Street's expectations,reporting an 85% jump in year-over-year profit. Shares of the oil company rose nearly 1% in pre-market trading.

Colgate-Palmolive (CL, Fortune 500) booked quarterly earnings that came in slightly higher than expected, but the company lowered its full-year outlook, sending shares down more than 4%

While companies have reported impressive results so far, Cook said investors remain wary about guidance.

"[Companies] are touting these positive outlooks, but there's still a lot of cash in their coffers, and they're not willing to expand and hire," he said. "It's hard to believe what they're saying when they aren't backing it up with cash."

Companies: Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500) unveiled the Kindle 3, the newest version of its e-reader Wednesday. Amid the e-reader price war, the company also introduced a cheaper Wi-Fi-only model that will sell for $139.

Shares of the company rose modestly in pre-market trading Thursday.

Economy: The Department of Labor said the number of Americans filing claims for first-time unemployment benefits fell 11,000 last week, to 457,000. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected claims to have held steady at 464,000.

Continuing claims, a measure of Americans who have been receiving benefits for a week or more, jumped by 81,000 to 4,565,000, while economists had forecast a rise to 4,550,000.

World markets: European stocks advanced in morning trading. The CAC 40 in France gained 0.5%, the FTSE 100 in Britain rose 0.7% and Germany's DAX was up 0.6%.

Asian markets finished mixed. The Shanghai Composite gained 0.6% and the Hang Seng ended a shade higher, but the Nikkei in Japan tumbled 0.6%.

Currencies and commodities: The dollar was down versus the euro, the British pound and the Japanese yen.

U.S. light crude oil for September delivery edged down 6 cents to $76.93 a barrel.

COMEX gold's August contract gained $1.60 to $1,162 per ounce.

Bonds: Treasury prices fell, and the yield on the 10-year note edged up to 3% from 2.99% late Wednesday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

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