By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch

MADRID (MarketWatch) -- Stock futures rose ahead of earnings from Ford Motor Co. and Caterpillar Inc. on Thursday, with investors inspired after Facebook busted through Wall Street's expectations.

Data reports return to the calendar, with a potential drop in new-home sales and the latest on weekly jobless claims on tap.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJU4) rose 30 points to 17,055, while those for the S&P 500 (SPU4)(SPU4) added 2.8 points to 1,983.60. Futures for the Nasdaq-100 (NDU4) gained 11.25 points to 3,986.75, a rise of 0.2%.

Ahead of the data, investors will hear from Ford (F), with investors expecting the auto maker to earn 37 cents a share in the second quarter. General Motors Co. (GM.XX) will also report, with earnings expectations of 70 cents per share in the second quarter.

Among the rest of the early reporters are 3M Co. (MMM), AmerisourceBergen Corp. (ABC), Caterpillar Inc. (CAT).

Investors will be looking for reaction to big names delivered late Wednesday. Facebook Inc. (F) shares jumped more than 5% in late trade after profit and sales beat expectations. Gilead Sciences Inc.(GILD) posted strong second-quarter results, lifting shares 1% in after-hours trading.

(SPU4)Qualcomm Inc.(QCOM) shares could come under pressure after the wireless-tech company noted some worries about licensees in China, even as it lifted its full-year adjusted earnings outlook. Shares fell more than 3% in late trading.

The biggest piece of data for Thursday could be new-home sales, and economists polled by MarketWatch are expecting the annualized sales pace of new single-family homes dropped to 475,000 in June, from a big 504,000-jump in May. The data is due at 10 a.m. Eastern Time.

Ahead of that, jobless claims are due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, and economists expect the pace of layoffs remained low in the most recent weekly period.

After several days of flip-flopping between gains and losses, the S&P 500 index (SPX) index logged its 26th record close this year on Wednesday, boosted by well-received results from Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB) and Apple Inc. (AAPL).

Outside of a loss for the Nikkei 225 index , Asian stocks rose across the board Thursday with a 1.2% gain for the China Shanghai Composite , after a preliminary reading of Chinese manufacturing data from HSBC hit an 18-month high. European stocks gained across the board amid a big earnings day there.

Crude-oil (CLU4) edged lower along with gold prices (GCQ4), while the dollar (DXY) steadied.

More must-reads from MarketWatch:

Why the S&P rally is nothing to get freaked out about, in one graph

EU set to ban trading in Russian stocks: FT

Goldman's 'golden cross' appears at the perfect time

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