07:31 AM EDT, 08/22/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US equity markets were pointing higher before the opening bell Thursday as traders parse minutes from the Federal Reserve's July monetary policy meeting and await Chair Jerome Powell's Friday keynote address at the annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Standard & Poor's 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 0.1% each, while the Nasdaq added 0.2% in premarket activity. The majority of Asian exchanges were tracking in the green, while European bourses were trending north midday on the continent.

A "vast majority" of policymakers indicated last month that monetary policy easing in September would likely be appropriate if new data continued to be in line with expectations, minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's July 30-31 meeting showed Wednesday. Markets will now be closely watching Fed Chair Jerome Powell's remarks on Friday at the annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for further clues regarding future monetary policy strategy.

On Thursday's economic calendar, the weekly jobless claims bulletin is out at 8:30 am ET, along with the Chicago Fed National Activity Index for July. The August purchasing managers' index report from S&P Global is due at 9:45 am, followed by the existing home sales report for last month at 10 am.

The weekly EIA domestic natural-gas supplies report posts at 10:30 am, while the Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index for this month is slated for an 11 am release.

Shares of Snowflake (SNOW) dropped 9.4% pre-bell after the company issued a downbeat product revenue outlook for its fiscal third quarter. Zoom Video Communications ( ZM ) gained 2.7% after posting a surprise increase in fiscal second-quarter earnings. Urban Outfitters ( URBN ) fell 11% as its fiscal second-quarter same-store sales missed market estimates.

NetEase ( NTES ) , Baidu ( BIDU ) , Williams-Sonoma ( WSM ) , BJ's Wholesale Club (BJ), Advance Auto Parts ( AAP ) , Weibo ( WB ) and Peloton Interactive ( PTON ) report their latest financial results before the bell, among others. Intuit (INTU), Workday (WDAY) and Ross Stores (ROST) announce earnings after markets close.

Before the open, bitcoin edged down 0.1% to $61,232, West Texas Intermediate crude ticked up 0.2% to $72.10 a barrel, yields on 10-year Treasuries advanced 5.3 basis points to 3.83% and gold slipped 0.1% to $2,545 an ounce.