NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Stock futures were setting up for a bounce at the open Thursday, hoping to reverse some of the losses sustained over the past two sessions.

S&P 500 futures were up 0.21%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures climbed 0.23%, and Nasdaq futures gained 0.21%.

European markets were higher after the European Central Bank left rates unchanged at 0.5% and raised growth forecasts. President Mario Draghi said the group now expects GDP to rise 1.5% over 2015, up from previous expectations of 1%, and as high as 2.1% by 2017.  

Draghi also said the ECB will begin purchasing eurozone government bonds on March 9 under its $66 billion-a-month debt repurchase program.

U.S. markets appeared unaffected by a tick up in jobless claims for the week and a larger fall in productivity and costs over the fourth quarter. Initial jobless claims for the week ended Feb. 27, increased to 320,000 from 313,000 a week earlier. Economists had expected a drop to 300,000.

Fourth-quarter productivity and costs were revised down to a decline of 2.2% from a previous 1.8% drop. However, that came in slightly narrower than an expected 2.3% decline.

All benchmark indexes ended Wednesday's session in the red, spooked by a sub-par employment report from ADP that foreshadowed potential weakness in the official jobs report out Friday. 

China's Shanghai Composite closed nearly 1% lower after the country forecast slower growth. A 7% GDP growth target over 2015 was provided, below 7.4% in 2014. 

After market close, the Federal Reserve will post initial results of its annual stress tests on major banks, including Bank of America (BAC) - Get Report, Citigroup (C) - Get Report, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) - Get Report, and GoldmanSachs (GS) - Get Report. 

AbbVie (ABBV) - Get Report won a bidding war for Pharmacyclics (PCYC) , a cancer biotech company it will purchase for $21 billion in cash and stock. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) - Get Report was previously reported to have expressed interest. AbbVie shares sank 7.1% in premarket trading, while Pharmacyclics added 0.2%. 

Costco (COST) - Get Report jumped 2.1% after earning $1.35 a share in its second quarter, 17 cents better than forecast. Comparable-store sales rose 4% in the U.S., while international comps increased 8% excluding gas and foreign exchange pressures. 

Apple (AAPL) - Get Report reportedly delayed production of its 12.9-inch iPad to September due to supply issues with its display panels, according to Bloomberg. The company had previously expected to begin production in the first quarter. Shares were slightly higher. 

Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) - Get Report dropped 2.5% after shares were downgraded to "sell" from "hold" at Topeka Capital. The firm said the retailer's business turnaround was taking longer than expected. 

--Written by Keris Alison Lahiff in New York.