07:06 AM EDT, 10/24/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US equity markets were mostly pointing higher before Thursday's opening bell, lifted in part by Tesla's (TSLA) better-than-expected third-quarter earnings.

Standard & Poor's 500 gained 0.5% and the Nasdaq added 0.8% in premarket activity, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down 0.1%. The majority of Asian exchanges were trending lower, while European bourses were tracking in the green midday on the continent.

Shares of Tesla jumped about 12% pre-bell as the electric vehicle manufacturer's earnings in the September quarter surprisingly increased year over year. International Business Machines ( IBM ) dropped 5.1% as the technology giant's third-quarter revenue fell short of market estimates. T-Mobile US ( TMUS ) rose 2.5% following its latest quarterly results.

Boeing's ( BA ) stock declined 2.6% after its striking factory workers rejected another contract offer.

S&P Global ( SPGI ) , Union Pacific ( UNP ) , Honeywell International ( HON ) , KKR (KKR), United Parcel Service ( UPS ) , Northrop Grumman ( NOC ) , Carrier Global ( CARR ) , Keurig Dr Pepper ( KDP ) , Dow (DOW), Dover (DOV), Southwest Airlines ( LUV ) , Hasbro ( HAS ) and American Airlines ( AAL ) report their latest financial results before the bell, among others.

Arthur J. Gallagher ( AJG ) , Capital One Financial ( COF ) , L3Harris Technologies ( LHX ) , DexCom ( DXCM ) and Deckers Outdoor ( DECK ) post earnings after the markets close.

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

The weekly EIA domestic natural-gas supplies report is scheduled for a 10:30 am release, while the Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index for the current month posts at 11 am. Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Beth Hammack is slated to speak at 8:45 am.

Before the opening bell, bitcoin inclined 1.1% to $66,962, West Texas Intermediate crude oil advanced 1.9% to $72.14 a barrel, yields on 10-year Treasuries retreated 5.4 basis points to 4.19% and gold moved up 0.7% to $2,750 an ounce.