U.S. stock futures on Thursday pointed to a muted open, with upside limited by a premarket drop by Cisco following its quarterly results.
Ahead of the open, investors are waiting for readings on jobless claims and a Philly Fed index, and are assessing Wal-Mart's earnings report.
S&P 500 futures shed 1.45 point, or 0.1%, at 2,178.75 while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipped 3 points to 18,538. Nasdaq-100 futures shed 6 points, or 0.1%, to 4,798.
On Wednesday, U.S. stocks closed slightly higher, shaking off losses as meeting minutes from the Federal Reserve showed policy makers remained divided on raising interest rates.
"The S&P 500 remains just below the recent high," said Sam Stovall, U.S. equity strategist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, in a note.
"The bias will remain bullish while above the nearby support zone at 2,159-2,175," Stovall added. "Even on a deeper pullback that breaches this nearest zone of support, there are lower supports at 2,134 and 2,115 where we would expect significant buying interest."