(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)
US stock futures pointed to weaker start on Thursday after a government release showed employers slashed 467,000 net jobs in June.
At 08:26 am ET, Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures slid 5.90 points to 913.30. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures decreased 54 points to 8394. Nasdaq Composite Index futures lost 5.75 points to 1473.
A release by Department of Labor on Thursday showed U.S. employers slashed 467,000 net jobs in June. Economists were expecting a drop of 365,000 in non-farm payrolls. Unemployment rate jumped to 9.5%. Consensus estimates were for jobless rate to increase to 9.6%.
A separate release by Department of Labor on Thursday showed number of Americans filing first- time claims for unemployment benefits fell 16,000 to 614,00 in the week ending June 27. Economists expected jobless claims to drop to 615,000. The four-week average of seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims, a less volatile gauge, decreased 2,700 to 615,250. Continuing claims for the week ending June 20 dropped 13,750 to 6.75 million.
Electric utility
Exelon Corp. (
NYSE: EXC) on Thursday raised its all-stock takeover bid for
NRG Energy (
NYSE: NRG) by 12.4% to around $7.45 billion, saying it has identified another $1.5 billion in savings from a potential deal. The group said it is now offering 0.545 of its own shares for every NRG share, up from a previous exchange rate of 0.485 shares. The new offer is worth around $28.10 a share, or $7.45 billion, based on Exelon's closing price on Wednesday.
Drugstore chain
Walgreen Co. (
NYSE: WAG) announced on Wednesday that its same store sales jumped 3.4% in June.
Semiconductor maker
Xilinx Inc. (
NASDAQ: XLNX) said Thursday that it now expects June-quarter sales to decrease about 5% sequentially, compared to previous forecast of down 4% to up 4%.
Illumina Inc. (
NASDAQ: ILMN) said late Wednesday that its second-quarter revenue will likely fall below prior forecast because of a slowdown in the number of genetic studies and lower foundation funding. Illumina said it expects to report revenue of $161 million during the quarter, based on a preliminary assessment. It previously projected revenue between $168 million and $173 million.
The European Central Bank left its key lending rate unchanged at a record low of 1% following the monthly meeting of the bank's rate-setting Governing Council.
US stocks finished higher on Wednesday after better-than-expected manufacturing and housing data lifted optimism.
European stocks retreated in afternoon trade. At 12:48 pm London time, the UK FTSE declined 33.86 points or 0.78% to 4306.85. The German DAX and French CAC decreased 1.61% and 1.07% respectively.
Asian stocks finished with losses. The Nikkei 225 dropped 63.78 points or 0.64% to end at 9,876.15. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong fell 200.68 points or 1.09% to 18,178.05.
NYMEX crude oil for August delivery declined as much as $1.14 or 1.64% to $68.17 a barrel in electronic trading.
Disclosure: Author does not own any of the stocks discussed here.
