As of 1230 BST, Dow Jones futures were down 0.11%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.42% and 0.78% higher, respectively.

The Dow Jones closed 409.94 points lower on Wednesday, extending losses recorded in the previous session.

Treasury yields were in focus yet again early on Thursday after the benchmark 10-year note rose above 4.25% in the previous session. As of 1230 BST, it had fallen more than four basis points and was sitting at 4.196%, while its short-dated two-year counterpart was slightly less than four basis points lower at 4.057%.

On the macro front, weekly jobless claims from the Labor Department will be out at 1330 BST, as will the Chicago Fed's September national activity index, while preliminary readings of S&P Global's manufacturing and services PMIs will follow at 1445 BST, September new home sales will be published at 1500 BST and the Kansas Fed's October manufacturing index was slated for release at 1600 BST.

In the corporate space, Tesla shares traded higher in pre-market after the electric carmaker beat Q3 profit expectations, while shares in tech giant IBM headed south on the back of consulting revenues that fell short of expectations.

United Parcel Service, Honeywell, Southwest Airlines and American Airlines were all due to report Q3 earnings on Thursday.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com