US equity futures were cautiously lower pre-bell Thursday ahead of a deluge of economic data.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 0.3% lower, S&P 500 futures were down 0.3%, and Nasdaq futures were 0.4% lower.

Oil prices were higher, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude up 1.4% at $71.35 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude 1.6% higher at $66.09 per barrel.

The weekly jobless claims bulletin, scheduled for release at 8:30 am ET, is expected to show new unemployment claims of 225,000 in the week ended Feb. 14 versus 227,000 in the preceding week. Trade deficit is seen narrowing to $55.5 billion in December from $56.8 billion in the prior month. The February Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing index is expected to come in at 7.5 versus 12.6 previously, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

The January pending home sales index, due at 10 am ET, is expected to show a 2% gain following a 9.3% drop in the preceding month.