Morning Briefing: 10 Things You Should Know

U.S. stock futures rise; global stocks fall on U.S. fiscal cliff worries; BP in talks to settle claims of 2010 disaster; Wal-Mart, Target and Dell report earnings Thursday.
By Joseph Woelfel ,

NEW YORK (

TheStreet

) -- U.S. stock futures were rising Thursday despite declined across the globe over fears the U.S. won't be able to reach an agreement quickly on resolving the so-called fiscal cliff.

European stocks were trading in the red. It was reported Thursday that the eurozone fell back into recession for the first time in three years.

Asian shares ended Thursday's session mostly lower following a leadership change in China. The Nikkei 225 index in Japan, however, rallied 1.9% to close at 8,829.72 on reports that Japanese parliamentary elections have been set for Dec. 16 and amid a weakening yen.

The economic calendar in the U.S. Thursday includes weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. EST, the consumer price index for October at 8:30 a.m., and the Empire State manufacturing survey for November at 8:30 a.m.

U.S. stocks

on Wednesday were dragged lower by persistent worries over the fiscal cliff.

The

Dow Jones Industrial Average

closed down more than 185 points, or 1.45%, at 12,571. The blue-chip index, which has fallen in five of the past six sessions, is up just 2.89% year to date.

The

S&P 500

finished off more than 19 points, or 1.39%, at 1355, while the

Nasdaq

lost a little more than 37 points, or 1.29%, to settle at 2847.

BP

(BP) - Get Report

said Thursday it is in advanced talks with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission about settling criminal and other claims from the Deepwater Horizon explosion in 2010.

A source told

Reuters

that BP's settlement payment would be the largest criminal penalty in U.S. history.

Wal-Mart Stores

(WMT) - Get Report

, the world's largest retailer, is expected by analysts to report before Thursday's opening bell quarterly earnings of $1.07 a share on revenue of $115 billion.

Rival

Target

(TGT) - Get Report

also reports third-quarter results on Thursday, and analysts polled by

Thomson Reuters

forecast a profit of 77 cents a share in the October-ended period on revenue of $16.92 billion.

PC maker

Dell

(DELL) - Get Report

is expected by analysts Thursday to post a third-quarter profit of 40 cents a share on revenue of $13.89 billion. Dell reports after the closing bell.

Other companies slated to report before Thursday's open include

Bon-Ton Stores

(BONT)

,

Children's Place

(PLCE) - Get Report

,

Dollar Tree Stores

(DLTR) - Get Report

,

GameStop

(GME) - Get Report

,

Perry Ellis

(PERY) - Get Report

,

Ross Stores

(ROST) - Get Report

,

Stage Stores

( STGS),

Stein Mart

(SMRT) - Get Report

,

The Buckle

(BKE) - Get Report

, and

Viacom

(VIAB) - Get Report

.

The late roster features

Applied Materials

(AMAT) - Get Report

,

Aruba Networks

(ARUN)

,

Autodesk

(ADSK) - Get Report

,

Cosi

(COSI)

,

Dole Food

(DOLE)

,

Gap

(GPS) - Get Report

,

Intuit

(INTU) - Get Report

,

Marvell Technology

(MRVL) - Get Report

,

New York & Co.

(NWY)

,

Sears Holdings

(SHLD)

,

Sina Corp.

(SINA) - Get Report

, and

The Wet Seal

( WTSLA).

Texas Instruments

(NTAP) - Get Report

announced Wednesday fresh restructuring plans that call for the elimination of 1,700 jobs, or roughly 5% of its work force. The company anticipates charges totaling $325 million in connection with the restructuring program.

Texas Instruments is targeting annual savings of $450 million from the moves.

Honeywell

(HON) - Get Report

and

Rockwell Collins

(COL)

are set to receive major contracts to supply systems to

Boeing

(BA) - Get Report

for its updated 737 Max jetliner, two people familiar with the decisions told

The Wall Street Journal

.

Australia's

GrainCorp

on Thursday rejected a $2.8 billion takeover bid from

Archer Daniels Midland

(ADM) - Get Report

.

-- Written by Joseph Woelfel

>To contact the writer of this article, click here:

Joseph Woelfel

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.

Copyright 2012 TheStreet.com Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. AP contributed to this report.

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