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Futures edge up after Wal-Mart results; data on TAP

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[November 13, 2014]  By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures advanced on Thursday, buoyed by earnings from Wal-Mart and ahead of data on the labor market.

* Wal-Mart shares advanced 2.3 percent to $81.02 in premarket trading after the retail giant posted a 2.9 percent increase in third-quarter revenue.

* Weekly initial jobless claims data is due at 8:30 a.m. (1230 GMT). Expectations call for claims to inch up to 280,000 versus 278,000 in the prior week.

* The S&P 500 has rallied more than 9 percent from a six-month low in October, buoyed by supportive economic data and corporate earnings. For the year so far, it is up 10.3 percent.
 


* J.C. Penney <JCP.N> shares fell 7.4 percent to $7.19 in premarket trading after it reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss Wednesday but said same-store sales were flat and slightly cut its full-year revenue forecast. The stock was the most actively traded on the New York Stock Exchange in premarket with volume of over 950,000 shares, representing about 6 percent of its 10-day average.

* As earnings season winds down, Thomson Reuters data showed that of 453 companies in the S&P 500 to report, 74.8 percent beat expectations, above the 63 percent average beat rate since 1994 and 67 percent for the past four quarters. Earnings overall were expected to grow 10 percent over the year-ago period.

* DreamWorks Animation shares jumped 20.1 percent to $26.87 before the opening bell after the New York Times cited sources as saying toymaker Hasbro Inc was in talks to buy the Hollywood studio.

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* Berkshire Hathaway Inc BRKa.N said it would acquire Procter & Gamble Co's PG.N Duracell battery business. Procter shares fell 1.2 percent to $88.40 before the opening bell while Berskhire's Class B shares edged up 0.3 percent to $146.

* S&P 500 e-minis were up 1.5 points, or 0.07 percent, with 159,048 contracts changing hands.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 7.5 points, or 0.18 percent, in volume of 24,101 contracts.

* Dow e-minis were up 16 points, or 0.09 percent, with 25,573 contracts changing hands.

(Editing by Bernadette Baum)

[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

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