US equity futures were higher pre-bell Thursday, with futures of technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite outperforming other major benchmarks after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) reported stronger Q4 financial results and issued upbeat revenue projections.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 0.1% higher, S&P 500 futures were up 0.4%, and Nasdaq futures were 0.8% higher.

Oil prices were lower, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude down 4.2% at $63.77 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude 4.3% lower at $59.37 per barrel.

The weekly jobless claims report, scheduled for release at 8:30 am ET, is expected to show new unemployment claims of 215,000 in the week ended Jan. 10, up from 208,000 in the prior week, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The January Empire State Manufacturing Index is forecast at 1.0, while the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing index for the month is expected to come in at negative 1.4.