NEW YORK (Reuters) - Index futures were little changed on Thursday after news of higher-than-expected profit and an improved outlook from technology bellwether IBM (IBM.N) was offset by disappointing results from investment bank Merrill Lynch.

IBM shares rose late on Wednesday after the computer services company raised its 2008 outlook. Its stock gained 2.1 percent before the opening bell.

But Merrill Lynch & Co Inc’s (MER.N) stock fell 1 percent after it posted a bigger-than-expected loss after taking several billion dollars of write-downs on subprime mortgages and other risky assets.

“This morning seems a little mixed. Overall, we’re seeing earnings coming in a little better-than-expected, but it’s still early,” said Paul Mendelsohn, chief investment strategist at Windham Financial Services in Charlotte, Vermont.

“Today it seems we probably have Merrill offsetting IBM because we’re not getting the follow-through from last night.”

S&P 500 futures were down 7 points, slightly below fair value, a mathematical formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract.

Dow Jones industrial average futures were down 35 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures down 6 points.

Not all the financial news was positive among tech companies. Nokia (NOK1V.HE), the world’s biggest maker of mobile phones, said it expects demand in the cellphone market to fall this year. Nokia’s shares were off nearly 10 percent in Europe.

In other earnings news, blue-chip drug maker Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) reported first-quarter earnings fell 18 percent as revenues shrank due to generic competition for several of its biggest medicines. Pfizer shares fell 2.3 percent to $20.61.

Economic data on tap for Thursday includes weekly initial jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. EDT and the Conference Board’s index of leading indicators at 10 a.m. EDT.

On Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) jumped 256.80 points, or 2.08 percent, to close at 12,619.27, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (.SPX) rose 30.28 points, or 2.27 percent, to 1,364.71. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) surged 64.07 points, or 2.80 percent, to close at 2,350.11.