(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stock futures pointed to a mixed start on Thursday after a government release showed that initial claims rose 11,000 to 531,00 in the week ending October 17.
At 8:16 am ET, the S&P 500 futures rose 0.90 points to 1079. The Dow Jones Industrial average futures gained 11 points to 9913. The Nasdaq Composite futures lost 5.50 points to 1747.75.
Early on Thursday, McDonald's Corp. (NYSE:
MCD) said Thursday that its third-quarter net income grew to $1.26 billion, or $1.15 a share, from $1.19 billion, or $1.05 a share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue fell 4% to $6.05 billion from $6.27 billion.
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:
T) said that third-quarter net income slipped 1.2% to $3.2 billion, or 54 cents a share, from $3.23 billion, or 55 cents a share, in the corresponding quarter last year. Revenue declined 1.6% to $30.86 billion.
Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE:
DOW) said that third quarter net income rose to $711 million, or 63 cents per share, compared with $428 million, or 46 cents per share, in the year-earlier quarter. Excluding one-time benefits and losses, the company earned 24 cents per share. Revenue slipped 22 percent to $12 billion from $15.4 billion.
Xerox Corp.(NYSE:
XRX) reported that third-quarter net income fell 52% to $123 million, or 14 cents a share, compared with $258 million, or 29 cents, in the year-go quarter. Revenue declined to $3.68 billion from $4.37 billion.
Late on Wednesday, Ebay Inc. (NASDAQ:
EBAY) said that its third quarter income slipped 29% to $349.7 million, or 27 cents a share, compared with earnings of $492.2 million, or 38 cents a share, in the comparable quarter last year. Excluding charges related to stock-options and other items, the company said it would have earned $502 million, or 38 cents a share, in the recent period. Revenue increased more than 5% to $2.24 billion.
Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:
MSFT) on Thursday launched its new Windows 7 operating system.
On the economic front, a release by Department of Labor on Thursday showed number of Americans filing first- time claims for unemployment benefits rose 11,000 to 531,00 in the week ending October 17. Economists expected jobless claims to rise slightly to 515,000. The four-week average of seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims, a less volatile gauge, decreased 750 to 532,250. Continuing claims for the week ending October 10 dropped 98,000 to 5.92 million.
The Chinese economy expanded 8.9 per cent year on year in the third quarter of this year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in Beijing on Thursday.
On the economic front, leading indicators data is due for release at 10:00 am ET.
US stocks finished with losses after a bearish analyst note by Rochdale Securities' banking analyst Dick Bove rattled investors.
European stocks retreated in afternoon trade. At 12:38 pm London time, the UK FTSE lost 57.07 points or 1.09% to 5,200.78. The German DAX and French CAC decreased 1.42% and 1.53% respectively.
Asian stocks finished lower. The Nikkei 225 dropped 66.22 points or 0.64% to $10,267.17. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong fell 107.59 points or 0.48% to 22,210.52.
NYMEX crude oil for November delivery declined $1.47 or 1.8% to $79.90 a barrel in electronic trading.
Disclosure: Author doesn't own any of the stocks discussed here.
