|
 * The number of Americans filing new applications for
unemployment benefits is expected to have slightly declined by
1,000 to 280,000 as the U.S. labor market continues to firm. The
data is expected at 8:30 a.m. ET (1230 GMT).
* On Wednesday, Wall Street declined as the technology sector fell
on disappointing results from giants including Apple <AAPL.O> and
Microsoft.
* Corporate earnings will continue to drive the market with a host
of big companies scheduled to report on Thursday.
* McDonald's, Caterpillar and 3M are scheduled to report
before the bell while Visa, Amazon and AT&T are expected after the
close.
* While markets remain near record highs, June-quarter S&P 500
earnings are expected to dip 1.5 percent, according to Thomson
Reuters data, less than the 3-percent decline expected at the start
of July.
* Of the companies that have reported so far, 70 percent beat
earnings expectations, above the 63-percent average beat rate since
1994.
* However, only 55 percent have topped revenue forecasts, below the
61-percent average beat rate since 2002.
* SanDisk shares jumped 13 percent to $61.24 in premarket trading, a
day after the data storage products maker reported a quarterly
profit that was double of what analysts had expected.
* Dow component American Express fell 2.3 percent to $77.15 despite
posting a profit that beat expectations as a strong dollar continues
to hurt companies with large overseas operations.
[to top of second column] |
* The dollar index was down 0.5 percent at $97.04 but had touched a
four-month high earlier this week.
* Cigna rose 4.6 percent to $158 after reports said U.S. health
insurer Anthem was close to finalizing negotiations to acquire the
company in a deal valued at roughly $48 billion. Anthem was up 3.8
percent at $161.
* Eli Lilly rose 4.2 percent to $90 after the drugmaker's revenue
rose due to demand for its new cancer and diabetes treatments.
Futures snapshot at 7:01 a.m. ET:
* S&P 500 e-minis were up 3.75 points, or 0.18 percent, with
74,342 contracts traded.
* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 12.25 points, or 0.27 percent, on
volume of 11,678 contracts.
* Dow e-minis were up 27 points, or 0.15 percent, with 9,310
contracts changing hands.
(Editing by Don Sebastian)
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