U.S. stocks headed for a higher open Thursday as investors await economic reports as well as quarterly results from several big companies.

The uptick in stock futures comes a day after falling oil prices and stronger-than-expected bank results swept Wall Street to a huge rally.

Investors are awaiting a government report on home construction and building permit applications for June. The Commerce Department report, due an hour before the 9:30 a.m. EDT opening bell, is expected to show construction of homes and apartments declined in June. A report is also due on weekly unemployment claims as is a Philadelphia Federal Reserve report on regional manufacturing.

But a flurry of quarterly results from companies like Merrill Lynch & Co. and Coca-Cola Co. could offer insights into the well-being of the economy. Investors will also be looking for signs of the toll that high commodity prices are having on companies dependent on consumer spending.

JPMorgan Chase said early Thursday its second-quarter profit fell to $2 billion from $4.2 billion a year earlier. But the company's results excluding one-time items topped Wall Street's expectations.

JPMorgan's performance helped give a lift to Dow Jones industrial average futures, which had been down or flat ahead of the report. Dow futures rose 10, or 0.09 percent, to 11,196. The Dow on Wednesday jumped 276 points, or 2.5 percent, logging its best daily gain in three months.

Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 3.50, or 0.28 percent, to 1,244.60. Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 5.75, or 0.31 percent, to 1,850.50.

A stronger-than-expected report Wednesday from Wells Fargo & Co. helped relieve some of investors' worries about the health of the banking sector. Wall Street has grown concerned that souring mortgage debt would force some banks to go under.

Bond prices were little changed Thursday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, stood flat at 3.94 percent from late Wednesday.

The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.

Oil prices fell again Thursday. Light, sweet crude fell $1.05 to $133.55 in premarket electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil fell more than $4 Wednesday and more than $6 Tuesday, offering investors some hope that perhaps commodity prices will begin to decline.

That would be welcome news for nearly all parts of the economy. Consumers, in particular, have been hard-pressed by higher fuel and food costs. Wall Street is worried they will pare their spending on discretionary items to make room in their budgets for the higher prices on necessities. A pullback could be troublesome as consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 1.00 percent. In morning trading, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.33 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 1.29 percent, and France's CAC-40 advanced 1.60 percent.

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