By Simon Kennedy, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock futures pointed to gains for Wall Street Thursday ahead of data on jobless claims and the non-manufacturing sector, and as oil futures edged lower.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average /quotes/comstock/21b!f:djh11 (DJH11 12,115, +69.00, +0.57%) rose 83 points to 12,129 and futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index /quotes/comstock/21m!f:sph11 (SPH11 1,318, +12.00, +0.92%) gained 11.40 points to 1,317.20.
Nasdaq 100 futures /quotes/comstock/21m!f:ndh11 (NDH11 2,344, +20.25, +0.87%) were up 18.50 points at 2,341.75.
Tunisia-Libya border crisis deepens
Thousands fleeing the violence in Libya flock to a makeshift refugee camp on the Tunisian border, where they appeal for their governments to evacuate them. Video courtesy of Reuters.
U.S. stocks rose slightly on Wednesday as data signalling strength in the job market helped offset worries about rising oil prices, which ended the session above $102 a barrel. The Dow Jones Industrial Average /quotes/comstock/10w!i:dji/delayed (DJIA 12,067, +8.78, +0.07%) posted a gain of 8.78 points, or just under 0.1%.
Crude-oil futures edged down Thursday. Crude for April delivery fell 66 cents to $101.57 a barrel in Globex electronic trading.
Oil futures had earlier registered a sharper fall following reports that Venezuela President Hugo Chavez was trying to broker a peace deal in Libya. But the decline was largely wiped out following reports that fresh air strikes had been launched against the Libyan town of Brega.
The gains for futures also mirrored a strong performance for international markets, with the U.K.’s FTSE 100 index /quotes/comstock/23i!i:ukx (UK:UKX 5,985, +70.46, +1.19%) up 1.2% in midday trading and Japan’s Nikkei 225 Average closing up 0.9%.
“This could be a small relief rally after the events of the last few days and what we’ve seen in the Middle East,” said Manoj Ladwa, senior trader at ETX Capital. However, he noted that the gains, at least in Europe, have been on very thin trading volumes.
The dollar held broadly steady against other major currencies, edging down 0.04% against the yen to ¥81.809, while the euro fell 0.1% to $1.3856.
The latest weekly figures on jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, along with data on fourth-quarter productivity.
The Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing index for February will be released at 10 a.m. Eastern. Economists polled by MarketWatch expect the index to remain unchanged from January at 59.4%.
Friday will see another round of data, including the closely-watched nonfarm payrolls figures for February.
Stocks that could see active trading Thursday include News Corp. /quotes/comstock/15*!nws/quotes/nls/nws (NWS 18.15, +0.11, +0.61%) after the U.K. government gave it the green light to buy the 61% of British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC /quotes/comstock/23s!a:bsy (UK:BSY 820.00, +21.00, +2.63%) it doesn’t already own, on the condition that it spins off the satellite broadcaster’s news channel. Read more on News Corp.'s attempt to buy BSkyB.
News Corp. is the owner of MarketWatch, the publisher of this report.
In other deal news, H.J. Heinz Co. /quotes/comstock/13*!hnz/quotes/nls/hnz (HNZ 48.98, -0.24, -0.49%) said it has agreed to acquire an 80% stake in Coniexpress S.A. Industrias Alimenticias, a Brazil-based maker of Quero tomato sauces. Heinz also reported a rise in fiscal third-quarter earnings.
Cut-price retailer Big Lots Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!big/quotes/nls/big (BIG 39.89, -0.74, -1.82%) reported fourth-quarter earnings of $1.46 a share, up from $1.27 a share in the year-earlier period and ahead of the $1.38 consensus forecast.
Zumiez Inc. /quotes/comstock/15*!zumz/quotes/nls/zumz (ZUMZ 25.94, -0.19, -0.73%) will also be in focus. The retailer said late Wednesday that its February same-store sales jumped 12.8%, comfortably outpacing the 4.2% consensus forecast. Shares in the company rose 7.4% in premarket trading.
A slew of other retailers are reporting same-store sales figures Thursday.
Among companies due to report earnings Thursday, Kroger Co. /quotes/comstock/13*!kr/quotes/nls/kr (KR 22.52, -0.21, -0.92%) is expected to announce fourth-quarter earnings of 44 cents a share.
Simon Kennedy is the City correspondent for MarketWatch in London.
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