Stock Futures Flat on Jobless Claims Report

Stock futures point to a flat open despite a dip in jobless claims as the market anticipates manufacturing data and pending home sales.
By Melinda Peer ,

NEW YORK (

TheStreet

) -- Stock futures pointed to a flat open as the market digested a larger-than-expected drop in jobless claims.

Futures for the

Dow Jones Industrial Average

were down by 7 points, or 2 points above fair value, at 11,525. Futures for the

S&P 500

were nearly 1 point lower, or less than half of a point below fair value, at 1,255, and

Nasdaq

futures were ahead by 1 point, or nearly 1 point above fair value.

Initial jobless claims fell by 34,000 to 388,000 in the week ended Dec.25, from 422,000 in the prior week, according to the Labor Department. The drop exceeded Wall Street's expectations for a decline of 6,000 to 4,000, to 416,000, according to

Briefing.com

.

Stocks finished Wednesday's session with slight gains as a weaker U.S. dollar lifted basic materials and energy stocks.

In the last trading day of the year for Japan, the Nikkei lost 1.1% on a stronger yen. Hong Kong's Hang Seng, which will have a shortened trading session on Friday, added 0.1%. The FTSE in London will also finish the year with an abbreviated session, was down by 0.2%, and the DAX in Frankfurt was off by 1.1%. The DAX will be closed on Friday, resuming trading on Jan. 4.

At 9:45 a.m., Chicago's Institute for Supply Management will release December manufacturing data with its purchasing managers index. Wall Street expects the index to fall to 61.5, from the prior month's reading of 62.5.

At 10 a.m., the National Association of Realtors will report on November pending-home sales. Economists are forecasting a 3% decline after the prior month's gain of 10.4%.

Pharmaceutical company

Akorn

(AKRX) - Get Report

said its Akron-Strides joint venture entered an agreement with

Pfizer

(PFE) - Get Report

in which it will get $35 million in cash for 16 abbreviated new drug approvals. Akron's stock was up 3.1% to $6.59 in early trading.

Shares of

Endo Pharmaceuticals

(ENDP) - Get Report

were up 4.2% to $36.68 ahead of Thursday's opening bell on its approval from the Food and Drug Administration for a gel that treats low testosterone.

Shares of

East West Bancorp

(EWBC) - Get Report

were up 2.2% to $20 in early trading after the bank holding company said

it repaid $306.5 million to preferred stock issued to the U.S. Treasury, completing its exit from the TARP program.

Online shopping during 2010's holiday shopping season rose 13% to $30.81 billion from the same period a year ago, according to

comScore

. Shares of

Amazon

(AMZN) - Get Report

were up 0.2% to $183.68 in premarket trading.

In commodity markets, the February crude oil contract traded 37 cents lower at $90.75 a barrel. The February gold contract was down by $1.90 to trade at $1,411.60 an ounce.

The dollar weakened against a basket of currencies with the dollar index down by 0.1%. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note weakened 3/32, lifting the yield to 3.369%.

.

--Written by Melinda Peer in New York

.

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

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