(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer) US stock futures rallied on Thursday after a government release showed that U.S. GDP expanded at a 3.5% annual pace in the third quarter.
At 8:41 am ET, the S&P 500 futures rallied 7.10 points to 1045.70. The Dow Jones Industrial average futures jumped 63 points to 9774. The Nasdaq Composite futures climbed 10.75 points to 1690.75.
The Commerce Department reported Thursday that U.S. GDP expanded at a 3.5% annual pace in the third quarter, matching consensus estimates.It was the first increase in real gross domestic product in a year and it was the strongest growth in two years, the report said.
A release by Department of Labor on Thursday showed number of Americans filing first- time claims for unemployment benefits fell 1,000 to 530,000 in the week ending October 24. Economists expected jobless claims to drop to 524,000. The four-week average of seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims, a less volatile gauge, decreased 6,000 to 526,250. Continuing claims for the week ending October 17 dropped 148,000 to 5.8 million.
Early on Thursday, Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE:
PG) announced that third-quarter net income dropped 1 percent to $3.35 billion, or 1.06 per share, compared to $3.31 billion, or $1.03 per share, in the comparable quarter last year. Revenue dropped 6 percent to 19.8 billion.
Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE:
XOM) said Thursday its third-quarter earnings plunged 68% to $4.73 billion, or 98 cents a share, from $14.83 billion, or $2.85 a share, in the same quarter a a year ago. Excluding a one-time gain $1.45 billion, Exxon Mobil earned $2.58 a share in the year-ago period.Revenue slumped to $82.3 billion from $137.7 billion.
Health insurer Aetna Inc. (NYSE:
AET) said that its third-quarter net income climbed 18 percent to $326.2 million, or 73 cents per share, from $277.3 million, or 58 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue decreased 9 percent to $8.72 billion.
Eastman Kodak (NYSE:
EK) said that it swung to a third-quarter loss from continuing operations of $111 million, or 41 cents a share, compared to earnings of $101 million, or 35 cents a share, in the prior-year quarter. Revenue plunged 26% to $1.78 billion from year-ago quarter.
Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE:
S) said Thursday that its third-quarter loss widened to $478 million, or 17 cents a share, from a loss of $326 million, or 11 cents a share in the year-ago period. Revenue slipped 9% to $8.04 billion.
US stocks finished with steep losses on Wednesday as weaker-than-expected new home sales data rekindled recovery fears.
European stocks retreated in afternoon trade. At 11:56 pm London time, the UK FTSE fell 95.85 points or 1.84% to 5,105.12. The German DAX and French CAC decreased 1.72% and 1.74% respectively.
Asian stocks finished with losses. The Nikkei 225 tumbled 183.95 points or 1.83% to $9,891.10. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong fell 496.59 points or 2.28% to 21,264.99.
NYMEX crude oil for December delivery climbed 23 cents or 1.1% to $77.69 a barrel in electronic trading.
Disclosure: Author doesn't own any of the stocks discussed here.
