Futures Up Despite Jobless Claims Rise

Stock futures were looking to extend the previous session's rally even as initial jobless claims climbed to 436,000 as markets anticipated the ECB would enact measures to contain eurozone weakness.
By Melinda Peer ,

NEW YORK (

TheStreet

) -- Stock futures were looking to extend the previous session's rally on Thursday even as initial jobless claims climbed to 436,000 as markets anticipated the European Central Bank would enact measures to contain eurozone weakness.

The ECB announced Thursday it was keeping a

key lending rate steady

at a record low 1%. ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet is holding a press conference Thursday morning.

Futures for the

Dow Jones Industrial Average

were up by 44 points, or 31 points above fair value, at 11,277. Futures for the

S&P 500

were 6 points higher, or 5 points above fair value, at 1210, and

Nasdaq

futures were ahead by 13 points, or 9 points above fair value.

Stocks soared Wednesday as strong Chinese manufacturing data and better-the-expected U.S. private sector job growth strengthened confidence in the recovery.

On Thursday, the

euro gained ground against the dollar, rising to $1.3158 from $1.3137, as markets expected ECB policymakers meeting in Germany to settle jitters regarding eurozone sovereign debt. The FTSE in London was up by 0.7%, and the DAX in Frankfurt was ahead by 0.07%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.9%, and Japan's Nikkei jumped 1.8%.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims rose to 436,000 in the week ended Nov.27, from 410,000 claims, previously. The level was higher than the 422,000 initial claims that economists had been expecting, according to Briefing.com.

October pending-home sales are expected to remain flat after falling 1.8% in the prior month, according to Briefing.com. The National Association of Realtors will release its report at 10 a.m.

November same-store sales reports, which include results from the "Black Friday" weekend, largely came in ahead of estimates. Shares of

Abercrombie and & Fitch

(ANF) - Get Report

jumped 7.2% to $54.09 in early trading as the retailer said same-store sales rose 22%, outpacing the increase of 6.8% that analysts expected.

Gap

(GPS) - Get Report

,

Macy's

(M) - Get Report

and

Target

(TGT) - Get Report

also all issued better-than-expected same-store sales gains in November. Their stocks were ahead by 1.5%, 1.6% and 1.3%, respectively, in premarket trading.

Warehouse retailer

Costco

(COST) - Get Report

said November same-store sales rose 9%, which was better than the increase of 6.2% that analysts had anticipated while sales gains at

BJ's Wholesale Club

(BJ) - Get Report

were just shy of expectations for a 3.9% uptick.

Shares of

PepsiCo (PEP) - Get Report

were up by 0.9% to $66.19 ahead of Thursday's opening bell on news that it agreed to acquire 66% of

OAO Wimm-Bill-Dann

( WBD), a Russian dairy and fruit-juice company, for $3.8 billion. Wimm-Bill-Dann shares were higher by almost 30%.

Homebuilder

Toll Brothers

(TOL) - Get Report

swung to a fourth-quarter profit of 30 cents a share, which included a tax benefit of $59.9 million. Analysts had been expecting a loss of 6 cents a share. Sales fell 17% to $402.6 million, and deliveries dropped 19%. The stock was down 0.8% to $18.32 in early trading.

In commodity markets, the January crude oil contract was down by 13 cents to trade at $86.62 a barrel. The most actively traded February gold contract was up by $2.30 to $1,390.60 an ounce.

The dollar traded lower against a basket of currencies with the dollar index down by 0.2%, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury note weakened 3/32, lifting the yield to 2.975%.

.

--Written by Melinda Peer in New York

.

Disclosure: TheStreet's editorial policy prohibits staff editors and reporters from holding positions in any individual stocks.

Loading ...