U.S. stock futures edged up ahead of fresh data on economic growth and the labor market that are expected to provide insight into the state of the recovery.

Futures tied to the S&P 500 ticked up 0.1%, after the broad-market index closed down less than 0.1% Wednesday, pointing to muted gains after the opening bell. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 0.4%, while Nasdaq-100 futures fell 0.2%.

Earnings season is under way, with Mastercard scheduled to report ahead of the opening bell. Amazon. com and T-Mobile are set to post earnings after markets close.

“Most companies are in a pretty positive situation. They have cash, they have demand. It’s something that was a bit expected already from last quarter, but we’re still having positive surprises,” said Ludovic Subran, chief economist at Allianz.

Facebook posted sharp growth in quarterly revenue and profit late Wednesday, but shares declined 4% in premarket trading after the company said it expects revenue growth to slow in the second half of the year. Uber fell 4.7% on a report that SoftBank plans to sell about a third of its stake in the company. PayPal slid 5.3% after reporting a drop in profit in the second quarter.

Popular investing platform Robinhood will begin trading on the Nasdaq on Thursday, after pricing its IPO at $38 a share, at the bottom of its expected range.

In Asia, most major benchmarks rose. The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 1.5% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 3.3%, led by advances in technology stocks. The Chinese government sought to reassure global banks and investors about the recent volatility in markets, saying that Beijing would consider the market impact of future policies.

U.S.-listed Chinese technology shares rose in premarket trading. E-commerce platforms Pinduoduo climbed nearly 4% and JD.com added 2.5%. Ride-hailing giant Didi Global soared over 13%. The company is considering going private to placate authorities in Beijing and compensate investors for losses, according to people familiar with the discussions.

The latest data on gross domestic product in the U.S. in the second quarter is slated to go out at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists are forecasting an almost 9% jump on an annualized basis. Jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, are also scheduled to go out at 8:30 a.m.

“Spending by American families has certainly skyrocketed over the past couple of months and GDP should capture that,” said Mr. Subran.

Investors are also digesting the latest communication from the Federal Reserve. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday that the U.S. economy had progressed and signaled that the central bank may taper bond-buying programs this year.

“The essence of the message is that they’re not in a hurry,” said Sebastien Galy, a macro strategist at Nordea Asset Management. “We’ll likely see a relatively slow pace of tapering and one that the market can anticipate.”

In bond markets, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.268%, from 1.259% Wednesday.

Overseas, the pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 advanced 0.4%.

Earnings pushed around the shares of several blue-chip European companies. Credit Suisse fell 2.4% after it reported a sharp decline in quarterly profit and said it lost billions from the blowup of family office Archegos due to failures of its management and controls.

Royal Dutch Shell climbed 4.4% after its earnings beat estimates and the oil major increased its quarterly dividend. Telecommunications-equipment maker Nokia surged over 6% after its quarterly revenue and profit beat analysts’ estimates. Airbus advanced 4% after it lifted its guidance for full-year profit and deliveries. Danone rose 5% after the food company reported higher net profit in the first half of the year.

Beer-making giant Anheuser-Busch InBev tumbled 6% after it posted earnings that came in below analysts’ expectations and said it was facing headwinds from tight supply chains.

Investors are digesting the latest communication from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

Investors are digesting the latest communication from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

Photo: Richard Drew/Associated Press

Write to Anna Hirtenstein at anna.hirtenstein@wsj.com