NEW YORK (Dow Jones) – U.S. stocks on Thursday futures pointed to a slight increase of the opening on Wall Street after a drop in jobless claims came in slightly better than expected, offering a glimmer of hope for the big August jobs report in one day .
U.S. productivity data was largely as expected, dropping at an annual rate of 1.8% in the second quarter and new applications for unemployment benefits fell last week to 472,000 in 6000, while the average dropped to four weeks 2500-485500.
“As always, we have no idea what percentage of people, if necessary, just run out of benefits or what percentage has found a job, but if the latter is the reason for the decline, which is certainly a positive,” Dan Greenhaus , main economic strategist at Miller Tabak, wrote in a note.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 12 points at 10,284. S & P 500 futures added 2 points to 1083.7, while the Nasdaq 100 futures gained to 1824 points 4.
The Dow (DJIA 10,320, +50.63, +0.49%) 254.75 points, or 2.5% rally on Wednesday, posting its biggest point and percentage gain since July 7. Sentiment was supported by an unexpected rise in a major U.S. production to be measured.
Economic reports on pending home sales and factory orders still to come, at 10 am Eastern.
In Washington, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testify at a hearing of the financial crisis of inquiry, which is responsible for research into the causes of the financial meltdown. Sheila Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, is also scheduled to testify.
And August sales results from several retailers offered hope for consumer spending, with Limited Brands, Ind. (LTD 25.75, +1.48, +6.10%) and Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST 58.59, +0.80, +1.38%) below the expectations on them. Read more about pickup in back-to-school sales.
In Frankfurt, the European Central Bank announced that it has an important lending rate unchanged at a record low of 1% to leave. In a press conference after the meeting, ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said the recovery in Europe will continue at a moderate pace.
Meanwhile, central bank of Sweden decided its main repo rate to increase by 0.25 percentage point to 0.75%, in line with market expectations.
European shares were mixed on Thursday, the Stoxx Europe 600 index (ST: SXXP 258.18, -0.01, -. 00%) remained unchanged at 258.07 points in trading in the afternoon.
Shares of beverage company Pernod Ricard, the French (FR: RI 61.25, 0.00, 0.00%) fell 2.2% after the company reported a marginal increase in the fiscal year net income and a decline in sales.
Russian telecom company VimpelCom Ltd. (VIP 14.94, -0.26, -1.71%) reported a decline in second quarter net profit.
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS 14.23, -0.09, -0.63%) (UK: RBS 46.17, +0.37, +0.81%) said it will further 3,500 British jobs in back office operations to cut. The bank said that IT and other support staff in 12 offices in the UK will be affected by the cuts.
In the currency markets, the dollar index (DXY 82.43, -0.04, -0.05%), which tracks performance of the U.S. dollar against a basket of other major currencies, fell 0.2% to 82,334.
The euro (EURUSD 1.2819, -0.0008, -0.0624%) with slightly to $ 1.2832.
Crude oil futures fell to $ 73.46 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
SOURCE:MARKETWATCH
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