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Trading is likely to continue being driven by
overseas issues, with the latest data out of Europe showing the
euro zone's economy ground to a halt in the second quarter.
Investors are also monitoring ongoing violence in Iraq, and the
conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc reported flat same-store sales for the
second-quarter and cut its full-year profit outlook. After
falling more than 1 percent in premarket trading, shares of the
Dow component rose slightly.
Cisco Systems Inc fell 1.3 percent to $24.87 in premarket
trading. The company gave a tepid outlook a day earlier for its
current quarter and announced massive job cuts even as the Dow
component's revenue beat expectations.
Wal-Mart and Cisco are the latest major names to issue cautious
outlooks. On Wednesday, Macy's Inc cut its full-year same-store
sales outlook while Deere & Co cut its profit view.
S&P 500 e-mini futures rose 3 points and were above fair value,
a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest
rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow
Jones industrial average e-mini futures rose 24 points and
Nasdaq 100 e-mini futures added 5.75 points.
Wall Street rallied on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones industrial
average returning to positive territory for the year. The S&P
500 is about 2.1 percent off a late-July record close.
In upcoming U.S. economic data, weekly jobless claims are seen
rising by 6,000 to 295,000. The report will be released at 8:30
a.m. EDT, along with import and export prices for July.
The chief executive of NewLink Genetics Corp, which licensed an
Ebola vaccine developed by Canadian government scientists, late
Wednesday told Reuters it has enough doses on hand to launch the
first human safety trial of an Ebola vaccine this summer.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration late Wednesday said it had
approved a new insomnia drug made by Merck & Co.
(Editing by Bernadette Baum)
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