(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stock futures rose on Thursday, after a government release showed that jobless claims declined to the lowest level since July.
At 8:33 am ET, the S&P 500 futures climbed 3.80 points to 1062.70. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 34 points to 9751. The Nasdaq Composite futures climbed 8.50 points to 1734.
A release by Department of Labor on Thursday, showed number of Americans filing first- time claims for unemployment benefits fell 21,000 to 530,00 in the week ending September 19. Economists expected jobless claims to rise to 545,000. The four-week average of seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims, a less volatile gauge, decreased 11,000 to 553,000. Continuing claims for the week ending September 12 dropped 123,000 to 6.14 million.
Leaders from Group of 20 nations would gather in Piitsburg to attend a two-day meeting starting Thursday.
Early on Thursday, McCormick & Company Inc. (NYSE:
MKC) announced that third-quarter net income climbed to $75 million, or 57 cents a share, from $69 million, or 52 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Quarterly revenue $792 million from $782 million.
Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE:
RAD) reported that its fiscal second-quarter loss narrowed to $116 million, or 14 cents a share, from $222 million, or 27 cents a share, int the prior-year quarter. Revenue in the quarter ended Aug. 29 dropped to $6.32 billion from $6.5 billion.
Late on Wednesday, Red Hat Inc. (NYSE:
RHT) said second-quarter net income jumped to $28.9 million, or 15 cents a share, from $21.1 million, or 10 cents a share in the same quarter a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, the provider of open-source software used by businesses earned 16 cents per share. Revenue for the period ended in August increased 12% to $183.6 million.
On the economic front, existing home sales data is due for release at 10:00 am ET.
US stocks finished ith losses on Wednesday even as Fed said that the pace of economic activity has "picked up" since its last meeting in August. Investors were primarily spooked by central bank's nnouncement that it is slowing the pace of a program to lower mortgage rates.
European stocks retreated in afternoon trade. At 12:58 pm London time, the UK FTSE lost 16.82 points or 0.33% to 5,122.55. The German DAX and French CAC decreased 0.27% and 0.33% respectively.
Asian stocks finished mixed. The Nikkei 225 rose 173.68 points or 1.67% to 10,544.22. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong fell 544.79 points or 2.52% to 21050.73.
NYMEX crude oil for November delivery declined as much as 95 cents or 1.4% to $68.02 a barrel in electronic trading.
Disclosure: Author doesn't own any of the stocks discussed here.
