By Sam Meredith, CNBC–

U.S. stock index futures were slightly higher Thursday morning.

At around 03:45 a.m. ET, Dow futures rose 36 points, indicating a positive open of more than 67 points. Futures on the S&P and Nasdaq were both slightly higher.

Market focus is largely attuned to the Federal Reserve‘s central banking meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming over the next two days.

Policymakers at the U.S. central bank are scheduled to deliver remarks from Thursday, after weeks of limited public appearances. Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker and Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan are both set to comment on the world’s largest economy later in the session.

The Fed’s closely-watched annual meeting comes shortly after the central bank published its latest meeting minutes on Wednesday.

The July minutes showed Federal Reserve officials who voted to lower interest rates three weeks ago agreed that the move shouldn’t be viewed as an indication that there is a “pre-set course” for future cuts.

The summary indicated that policymakers viewed the move as a “mid-cycle adjustment,” an expression Chairman Jerome Powell used in a news conference afterward that was seen as contributing to a stock market sell-off after the July 30-31 meeting.

The widely watched 2-year/10-year U.S. yield curve, often monitored as precursor for recession, flattened and then briefly inverted after the release of the Fed’s meeting minutes.

Data, earnings

On the data front, the latest weekly jobless claims will be released at around 8:30 a.m. ET.

Leading index data for July and the Kansas City Fed survey, manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) and services PMI for August will all follow slightly later in the session.

In corporate news, Hormel Foods, BJ’s Wholesale and Dick’s Sporting Goods are among some of the companies expected to report earnings before the opening bell.

Salesforce.com, Gap and HP are among some of the firms set to release their latest quarterly results after market close.

— CNBC’s Jeff Cox contributed to this report.