(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stock futures edged higher on Friday on better than expected jobs data. Shares also rose after investors cheered the findings of stress test results.
At 8:26 am ET, Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures rose 13.90 points to 920.90. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures increased 105 points to 8493. Nasdaq Composite Index futures gained 12 points to 1406.50.
A Labor Department release on Friday showed the economy shed 539,000 jobs in April. Economists expected payrolls to drop 600,000. The unemployment rate shot up to 26 year high of 8.9% in April from 8.5% in March. Economists had projected a reading of 8.9%.
Shares of major US banks gained in pre market trading.
Bank of America (
NYSE: BAC) and
Citigroup (
NYSE: C) rose over 10%.
Late on Thursday, federal regulators released the much anticipated result of stress tests on the health of the 19 largest US banks. According to the stress test results, 10 institutions have been asked to raise $74.6 billion in private capital. Meanwhile,
Wells Fargo (
NYSE: WFC) and
Morgan Stanley (
NYSE: MS) - have already announced plans to raise capital. Bank of America Inc., on the other hand said that it intends to sell assets, issue $17 billion in common stock, and take other steps in order to meet the total capital shortfall of $33.9 billion. Also, Citigroup made it clear that seeking nothing further from the US government.
Shares of
McDonald's Corp. (
NYSE: MCD) gained in pre market action after it said that its same store sales rose 6.9% in April.
American International Group (
NYSE: AIG) on Thursday reported that its first-quarter net loss narrowed to $4.35 billion, or $1.98 a share, from a net loss of $7.81 billion, or $3.09 a share, in the corresponding quarter last year.
On the front of economic data, wholesale inventories data is due for release at 10:00 am ET.
Elsewhere, British banking giant
Royal Bank of Scotland (
NYSE: :RBS) said Friday that it swung to a net loss of 857 million pounds ($1.29 billion) in the first quarter of 2009,compared to a profit of 245 million pounds a year ago.
Japanese auto maker
Toyota Motor Corp. (
NYSE: TM) posted annual net loss of 437 billion yen ($4.4 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, on net revenue of 20.53 trillion yen. A year ago, it registered a profit of 1.72 trillion yen and net revenue of 26.29 trillion yen.
US stocks finished lower on Wednesday as investors remained concerned over weak demand for government debt.
European stocks advanced in afternoon trade. At 13:04 pm London time, the UK FTSE gained 73.54 points or 1.67% to 4,472.22. The German DAX and French CAC increased 2.86% and 2.46% respectively.
Asian stocks finished up. The Nikkei 225 climbed 47.13 points or 0.50% to 9,432.83. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong rose 171.98 points or 1% to 17,389.87.
NYMEX Crude oil for June delivery climbed as much as $1.28, or 2.3 percent, to $57.99 a barrel.
Disclosure: Author does not own any of the stocks discussed here.
