US Stock Futures Up After Spain Auction, Bank Earnings

(REUTERS) -- Stock index futures rose on Thursday after Spain sold all of its debt at an auction and ahead of a raft of corporate earnings and economic data.

Spain, the latest trouble spot in the euro zone debt crisis, sold 2.5 billion euros ($3.3 billion) of bonds, but yields rose as Madrid struggled to tame its deficit.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares advanced 0.5 percent.

Bank of America Corp., the No. 2 U.S. bank, climbed 2 percent to $9.10 in premarket trade after posted lower quarterly profit.

Morgan Stanley rose 5.3 percent to $18.60 after it posted results early Thursday.

DuPont and Co.'s quarterly profit and sales beat expectations, helped by price hikes and strong sales of herbicides and genetically modified seeds.

According to Thomson Reuters data, 35 companies in the S&P 500 are due to report Thursday. Notables include Microsoft Corp., Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc.

Of the 56 S&P 500 companies reporting through Wednesday morning, 79 percent beat estimates.

S&P 500 futures rose 6.5 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures gained 66 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 19.5 points.

On the economic front, clues on the health of the U.S. labor market could come with the release of weekly initial jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT). Economists forecast a total of 370,000 new filings, compared with 380,000 in the prior week.

Due at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) are the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank's April business activity index, the Conference Board's leading economic indicators for March and existing home sales for March from the National Association of Realtors.

Biotechnology company Human Genome Sciences Inc. surged 107.1 percent to $14.85 premarket after it rejected an unsolicited $2.6 billion bid from long-time partner GlaxoSmithKline Plc.

Asian shares traded in tight ranges before the Spanish bond auction amid renewed concerns over the euro zone's debt crisis.

(Reporting By Chuck Mikolajczak; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)