U.S. stock-index futures traded lower on Thursday, with economic reports doing little to lift investor enthusiasm a day after the Federal Reserve announced the end of quantitative easing.
Stock futures retained modest losses after the government reported third-quarter gross domestic product rose 3.5 percent in September and the number of Americans filing for jobless benefits rose by 3,000 to 287,000 last week.
The stronger-than-expected reading on U.S. economic growth is "a development somewhat validating the hawkishness in yesterday's Fed statement," Dan Greenhaus, chief strategist at BTIG, noted in emailed commentary.
As expected, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announced the end of its bond-buying program at the end of a two-day meeting on Wednesday.
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The Fed reiterated that benchmark interest rates would remain near zero for a considerable period of time. However, it also upgraded its outlook for the labor market, which some analysts took as a sign that the central bank was gearing up to a rate rise.
"In the absence of a major deterioration in macro or financial conditions, today's statement primes the market for further hawkish guidance at the next FOMC meeting," said Erik Weisman, a fund manager at MFS Investment Management.
Wall Street shares posted modest losses, rebounding from session lows, following the decision.
Earnings blast
The day will be another very busy one for third-quarter results, with ConocoPhillips, MasterCard and Kellogg posting results before Wall Street opens.
Read MoreTime Warner Cable earnings fall short
Early during the day, Time Warner Cable reported results that fell short of analysts' expectations on Thursday. The company's third-quarter earnings rose to $1.86 per share from $1.69 a share in the year-earlier period.
Thirty-four companies reported on Wednesday, including Visa after the close of markets. Shares of the credit card company rose nearly 6 percent in after-hours trading after it posted quarterly earnings that topped Wall Street estimates. It said its near-term outlook remained cautious, citing the modest pace of the economic recovery, the Ebola epidemic and low currency volatility as possible headwinds.
Read MoreVisa: Outlook cautious on Ebola, other headwinds
Shares in both DreamWorks Animation and Kraft Foods rose in after-hours trade, after both posted better-than-expected results.
On Thursday, Royal Dutch Shell beat expectations with core earnings of $5.8 billion for the third quarter and maintained its dividend as both upstream and downstream divisions delivered strong results. Europe's biggest oil company by market value also said it had appointed Charles Holliday as chairman, who previously chaired Bank of America.
Meanwhile, CNBC has learnt that two respected managers at Twitter plan to resign as the social-media company reorganizes its engineering department. Twitter shares fell in after-hours trading.