* U.S. stock index futures were flat on Thursday, a day after the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI topped the key 10,000 level and ahead of quarterly results from Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.

* The banks will report a day after stronger-than-expected results from JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) as well as stronger results from Intel Corp (INTC.O) helped drive stocks to new yearly highs on hopes a stronger earnings season would support a 7-month rally.

* Citigroup Inc (C.N) is expected to report a third-quarter loss of 38 cents a share, according to a Reuters poll. Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) is tipped to earn $4.20 per share.

* Shares in both Citigroup and Goldman Sachs shares rose about 1.2 percent in premarket trade.

* Despite the well received positive earnings from yesterday, the market is looking for confirmation today as earnings hold the key for a full and robust economic recovery, said Andre Bakhos, president of Princeton Financial Group in Princeton, New Jersey. Each positive earnings results solidifies the V-shaped recovery the market is hoping for.

* S&P 500 futures SPc1 rose 1.8 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 DJc1 gained 11 points, and Nasdaq futures NDc1 lost 1 point.

* Big technology names are also due to report earnings after the bell. Analysts look for International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N) to earn $2.38 per share versus $2.05 a year earlier, while Google Inc (GOOG.O) is tipped to report $5.42 compared with $4.92 a year ago.

* IBM shares rose 0.1 percent in thin premarket trade, while Google was flat.

* Other companies set to report include technology company Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD.N), motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson Inc (HOG.N) and supermarket chain Safeway Inc (SWY.N).

* European shares .FTEU3 rose 0.7 percent by late morning, hitting a one-year high for a second straight day, with technology and financial stocks the biggest gainers.

* The Labor Department is to release the September Consumer Price Index (CPI) at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT). Economists look for a rise of 0.2 percent compared with a 0.4 percent rise in August. For details, see

* The New York Federal Reserve details its Empire State Manufacturing Survey for October, an early indicator of economic activity during the month. Economists in a Reuters survey expect a reading of 18.00 compared with 18.88 in September. The data is due at 8:30 a.m. (1230 GMT)

* Also at 8:30 a.m., initial weekly jobless claims are due, with economists looking for a total of 525,000, up from 521,000 the prior week, as economy still struggles with high unemployment.

New Jersey Investment Goldman sachs U.S.