By Devik Jain

(Reuters] – U.S. stocks index futures edged upwards on Thursday thanks to gains in Caterpillar Ford and Merck report positive quarterly earnings. Meanwhile, investors are eagerly awaiting data on the economy’s recovery.

The Commerce Department is due to release their advance gross domestic products report at 08:30 am. ET will show that the U.S. economy experienced a 2.7% annualized growth rate in Q3 last year. This is due at 08:30 a.m. as COVID-19 outbreaks erupted, disrupting global supply chains and fueling shortages of labor and products.

The market participants closely monitor the outlook of corporate America to see how they are responding as they present their quarterly results.

Ford Motor (NYSE:) jumped 10.2% in premarket trading after the carmaker reported a stronger-than-expected third-quarter profit and raised its full-year earnings forecast as strong demand for its trucks helped offset the hit from a global semiconductor shortage.

General Motors (NYSE) shares saw a 1.7% rebound from Wednesday’s 5.4% fall.

Caterpillar (NYSE 🙂 gained 2.8% following a third quarter increase in adjusted profit. Merck’s 55% quarterly profit report helped Caterpillar (NYSE 🙂 gain 1.4%.

The Stellar earnings reports have driven both the and to new records this week while the tech-heavy Nasdaq is now 1.1% lower than its record peak on Sept 7.

Profits for S&P 500 companies are expected to grow 37.6% year-on-year in the third quarter, up from an expected 29.4% rise at the start of earnings season, according to data from Refinitiv.

After Thursday’s close, the focus will be on Apple’s earnings report and Amazon.com’s e-commerce giant. This concludes a positive reporting season for large-cap technology stocks.

Google Alphabet (NASDAQ :), Tesla and Microsoft (NASDAQ :), and Facebook (NASDAQ 🙂 both rose between 0.2% – 2.9%.

At 6:53 AM ET they were up by 78 points or 0.22%. 13.25 points or 0.29% were higher and 85.25 were up, or 1.55%.

The market’s focus has moved to timing an interest rate rise next year, and not just pricing the possible taper in asset purchases.

Inflation expectations and labor market recovery are the key factors in central bank policy. Weekly jobless claims readings and the Fed’s favorite inflation gauge (the core PCE Price Index) are also monitored.

The Washington Post reports that U.S. President Joe Biden expected to announce Thursday that Democrats reached an agreement on a revised framework regarding his social spending plan. This plan, he believes will win the support of all Democrats.

EBay lost 5.6% due to the downbeat holiday quarter revenue forecast by the ecommerce company.