U.S. stock futures turned higher Thursday after some better-than-expected earnings results.

In today’s economic news, Statistics Canada reported that real gross domestic product edged down 0.1% in May after rising 0.4% in April.

There was a significant decrease in the energy sector in May, StatsCan said. Declines were also recorded in finance, forestry, construction and wholesale trade. Conversely, manufacturing, retail trade and the public sector advanced.

South of the border, U.S. gross domestic product rose at a seasonally adjusted 1.9% annual rate in the second quarter.

Separately, U.S. jobless claims jumped in the latest week to a five-year high.

In today’s earnings news, Barrick Gold Corp. posted 22% increase in second-quarter net income to $485 million, as high gold prices propelled revenue higher by 20% to $1.97 billion.

Lifted by record crude prices, Exxon Mobil says its second-quarter earnings rose nearly 14% to US$11.68 billion, the biggest quarterly profit ever by a U.S. corporation.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC said its second-quarter net profit rose to a record US$11.6 billion, up 33% from the same period a year ago

On Wednesday, coffee giant Starbucks Corp.posted its first quarterly loss due to poorer-than-expected sales and a large restructuring charge.

In M&A news, Bristol-Myers said it made an offer to acquire Erbitux partner ImClone for US$60 a share, or about US$4.5 billion.

Overseas, Asian indexes finished mostly higher while European markets were mixed.

Toronto stocks soared on Wednesday led by the energy sector, which rallied along with rising oil prices.

The S&P/TSX composite index jumped 340.66 points, or 2.55%, to finish at 13,683.21. All but one of the 10 TSX main sectors ended higher.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index gained 16.23 points, or 0.75%, to end at 2,184.27.

On Wall Street, U.S. stocks rallied as a surprising increase in private-sector employment and the Federal Reserve’s efforts to boost liquidity offset a surge in oil prices.

The Dow Jones industrial average soared 186.13 points, or 1.63%, to 11,583.69. The S&P 500 gained 21.06 points, or 1.67%, to 1,284.26. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 10.10 points, or 0.44%, to 2,329.72.