(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer) US stock futures remained in negative territory before the opening bell on Thursday even after a government release showed that consumer spending soared 1.3% in August.
At 8:0 am ET, the S&P 500 futures fell 1.80 points to 1057.20. The Dow Jones Industrial average futures decreased 5 points to 9723. The Nasdaq Composite futures lost 6.25 points to 1716.50.
A release by Commerce Department showed that US consumer spending, which accounts for nearly two third of economy, jumped 1.3% in August. Personal income rose 0.2% in August. Economists expected consumer spending to rise 1.1% and personal income to increase 0.1% in August.
A release by Department of Labor on Thursday showed number of Americans filing first- time claims for unemployment benefits rose 17,000 to 551,000. in the week ending September 26. Economists expected jobless claims to rise to 535,000. The four-week average of seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims, a less volatile gauge, decreased 6,250 to 548,000. Continuing claims for the week ending September 19 dropped 70,000 to 6.09 million.
Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:
BAC) announced late Wednesday that Kenneth has Lewis told the company's directors he intends to as chief executive and step down as a director at the end of the year.
Networking giant Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:
CSCO) on Thursday said that it has agreed to buy Norway's Tandberg in $3 billion deal to bolster its position in video conferencing.
Late on Thursday, Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE:
STZ) said that it swung to fiscal second-quarter profit of $99.7 million, or 45 cents a share, compared ith a loss of $22.7 million, or 11 cents a share, in the prior year period. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 54 cents a share in the most recent quarter. Consolidated net sales dropped to $1.1 billion from $1.2 billion.
Teradyne Inc. (NYSE:
TER) on Thursday boosted its third-quarter forecast. The automated test-equipment maker now expects to report a quarterly net loss of 3 cents a share to breakeven, or an adjusted profit of 10 cents to 13 cents a share, compared with its prior forecast of a loss of 9 cents to 13 cents a share, or an adjusted loss of 2 cents a share to an adjusted profit of 2 cents a share. Teradyne now expects revenue will be $250 to $260 million, a sequential increase of approximately 50 percent.
On the economic front, construction spending, pending home sales and ism index data are due for release at 10:30 am ET. Auto sales data is scheduled for release later in the day.
US stocks dropped on Wednesday as the Chicago PMI fell 3.9 points to 46.1 in September, well below the consensus estimate of 52.0.
European stocks retreated in afternoon trade. At 12:46 pm London time, the UK FTSE lost 31.53 points or 0.61% to 5,102.37. The German DAX and French CAC decreased 0.35% and 0.57% respectively.
Asian stocks finished lower. The Nikkei 225 fell 154.59 points or 1.53% to 9,978.64.
NYMEX crude oil for November delivery climbed as much as 86 cents or 1.2% to $69.75 a barrel in electronic trading.
Disclosure: Author doesn't own any of the stocks discussed here.
