07:31 AM EDT, 07/18/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The benchmark US stock measures were mostly pointing higher before Thursday's opening bell as traders brace for another round of corporate earnings.

Standard & Poor's 500 edged up 0.1% and the Nasdaq added 0.4% in premarket trading, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.2%. Asian exchanges were mixed to lower while European bourses were tracking in the green.

Shares of United Airlines (UAL) and Alaska Air ( ALK ) decreased 0.2% and 0.5%, respectively, pre-bell after the air carriers reported their second-quarter results late Wednesday. Domino's Pizza (DPZ) fell 11% as the company fell short of estimates for quarterly same-store sales.

Novartis ( NVS ) , Abbott Laboratories ( ABT ) , Marsh & McLennan ( MMC ) , Blackstone (BX), Cintas ( CTAS ) , D.R. Horton ( DHI ) , M&T Bank ( MTB ) and Snap-On (SNA) post their latest financial results before the bell, among others. Streaming giant Netflix (NFLX), Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) and PPG Industries (PPG) report earnings after the market close.

On the economic calendar, the weekly jobless claims bulletin and the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's manufacturing index for July are out at 8:30 am ET, followed by the leading indicators index for last month at 10 am. The weekly EIA domestic natural gas supplies report is scheduled for a 10:30 am release.

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Lorie Logan is set to speak at 1:45 pm, while San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly speaks at 6:05 pm. Fed Governor Michelle Bowman is slated to speak at 7:30 pm.

Before the open, bitcoin slipped 0.1% to $64,615, West Texas Intermediate crude nudged down 0.1% to $82.77 per barrel, 10-year US Treasuries advanced 3.9 basis points to 4.18%, and gold rose 0.3% to $2,467 per ounce.