(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stock futures rose on Thursday on better than expected weekly initial claims data. Futures also gained after JPMorgan reported quarterly results that exceeded consensus estimate.
At 8:31 am ET,
Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures advanced 4.80 points to 932.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 48 points to 8591.
Nasdaq Composite Index futures decreased 2 points to 1495.25.
A release by
Department of Labor on Thursday showed number of Americans filing first- time claims for unemployment benefits fell 47,000 to 522,00 in the week ending July 11. Economists had forecast jobless claims to drop to 625,000. The four-week average of seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims, a less volatile gauge, decreased by 22,500 to 505,500. Continuing claims for the week ending July 4 dropped 642,000 to a record 6.67 million.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:
) reported that its second-quarter profit jumped 36 percent to $2.72 billion, or 28 cents per share, up 36 percent from $2 billion, or 53 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue surged 39% to $25.62 billion from $18.4 billion.
Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE:
) said its second-quarter income declined 91 percent to $19.8 million, or 8 cents per share, from $222.8 million, or 95 cents per share, in the prior year quarter. Revenue tumbled 27% to $1.15 billion from $1.57 billion a year ago.
Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ:
) said Thursday that second-quarter net income fell to $143 million, or 49 cents a share, compared to $207 million, or 71 cents, in the year earlier period. On an adjusted basis, earnings per share were 75 cents. Revenue rose to $1.1 billion, compared to $993 million.
Nokia Corp. (NYSE:
) on Thursday said second-quarter earnings dropped 66% to euro380 million ($535 million) from euro1.1 billion in the same period a year earlier. Revenue plunged 25% to euro9.91 billion.
Late on Wednesday,
CIT Group (NYSE:
) that negotiations with regulators about a possible rescue failed after days of round-the-clock talks.
US stocks rallied on Wednesday as better than expected quarterly results from chipmaker Intel boosted optimism.
European stocks climbed in afternoon trade. At 12:58 pm London time, the UK FTSE gained 8.40 points or 0.19% to 4,354.86. The German DAX and French CAC increased 0.72% and 0.98% respectively.
Asian stocks finished with gains. The Nikkei 225 rose 74.91 points or 0.81% to 9,344.16. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong advanced 103.21 points or 0.57% to end at 18,361.87.
NYMEX crude oil for August delivery oil declined as much as 79 cents or 1.3% to $60.75 a barrel in electronic trading.
Disclosure: Author doesn’t own any of the stocks mentioned here.
