US stocks on Greece watch

U.S. stock markets were expected to open higher on Thursday, unwinding some of the previous day's losses, with focus remaining on the crisis in Greece and latest economic numbers.

Equity index futures market futures were broadly higher in European session, with Dow Jones industrial average futures up more than 80 points, even as European shares fell amid Greek jitters, before trading 64 points higher.

Talks between Greece and its global creditors to secure a cash-for-reforms deals and avert a debt default stumbled on Wednesday. A two-day European Union summit starts on Thursday, with talks expected to continue there.

Without a deal, Greece is expected to default on a 1.6 billion euro ($1.8 billion) debt payment to the International Monetary Fund next week. A default could speak run on banks and raises the risk of Greece exiting the euro zone.

Getty Images

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

"Both sides are once again as apart as they can be and the hope of reaching any deal before the 30th of this month has faded once again," Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at AvaTrade, said in a note.

"So, if the Greek government does not make any payment to the IMF by that date, we have serious trouble in hand and this will rattle the equity market around the globe," he said.

Weekly jobless claims came in at 271,000, slightly below analysts expectations of 272,000. personal income rose 0.5 percent in May.

Read MoreWith Greece as backdrop, new data get a look

Any indication in the data that inflation is picking up could stir talk that the Federal Reserve is likely to raise interest rates sooner rather than later.

U.S. stocks closed lower on Wednesday as investors weighed the renewed impasse in the Greece talks, with the Dow Jones industrial average closing almost 1 percent lower.

Ben Lichtenstein, president of Tradersaudio.com told CNBC earlier on Thursday, that he was still bullish on the outlook for U.S. stocks.

"I am a big fan of the trend and clearly the trend is still to the upside," he said.

Elsewhere, the U.S. Treasury auctions $29 billion of 7-year notes at 1 p.m. ET.

A slew of companies reported quarterly earnings, including Accenture and Winnebago, both of which beat analysts' expectations.

Nike, Micron and Synnex report earnings after the market closes.