(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stock futures gained on Thursday after a government release showed initial claims declined 20,000 to 512,000 in the week ending October 31.
At 8:32 am ET, the S&P 500 futures advanced 2.90 points to 1049.90. The Dow Jones Industrial average futures gained 8 points to 9793. The Nasdaq Composite futures climbed 5.50 points to 1692.25.
A release by Department of Labor on Thursday showed number of Americans filing first- time claims for unemployment benefits fell 20,000 to 512,00 in the week ending October 31. Economists expected jobless claims to drop to 522,000. The four-week average of seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims, a less volatile gauge, decreased 3,000 to 523,750. Continuing claims for the week ending October 24 dropped 68,000 to 5.75 million.
Early on Thursday, CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE:
CVS) announced that its third-quarter profit jumped 39 percent to $1.02 billion, or 71 cents per share, from $732.5 million, or 50 cents per share, in the same quarter last year. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 65 cents per share. Revenue surged 18 percent to $24.64 billion from $20.86 billion.
Cigna Corp. (NYSE:
CI) said that its third quarter net income soared 92 percent to $329 million, or $1.19 per share, from $171 million, or 62 cents per share, in the same quarter of 2008. On an adjusted basis, the company earned $1.13 per share. Revenue slipped 8 percent to $4.5 billion.
Retailer Macy's Inc. (NYSE:
M) on Thursday said that same store sales fell 0.8% in October.
Late on Wednesday, networking giant Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:
CSCO) said that its fiscal first-quarter net income fell to $1.8 billion, or 30 cents a share, from $2.2 billion, or 37 cents a share, in the-year earlier quarter. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 36 cents a share. Revenue declined 13 percent from a year ago to $9 billion.
Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:
WFMI) said Wednesday that fiscal fourth quarter net income jumped to $28.7 million, or $0.20 per diluted share, compared to $1.5 million, or $0.01 per diluted share, in the comparable quarter last year. Revenue increased 2.3% to $1.8 billion.
Qualcomm (NASDAQ:
QCOM) reported Wednesday that fiscal fourth quarter net income declined to $803 million, or 48 cents per share, from $878 million, or 52 cents per share, in the prior-year period. Revenue slumped 19 percent to $2.7 billion from $3.3 billion.
European Central Bank on Thursday left its key interest rate steady at 1%.
US stocks finished mostly higher on Wednesday after Federal Reserve left benchmark interest rate unchanged at near zero and said that it will keep them low for an extended period.
European stocks retreated in afternoon trade. At 12:32 pm London time, the UK FTSE dropped 28.28 points or 0.55% to 5,079.61. The German DAX and French CAC decreased 0.37% and 0.32% respectively.
Asian stocks finished lower. The Nikkei 225 fell 126.87 points or 1.29% to 9,717.44. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong slumped 135.69 points or 0.63% to 21,479.08.
NYMEX crude oil for December delivery declined as much as 82 cents or 1% to $79.58 a barrel in electronic trading.
Disclosure: Author doesn't own any of the stocks discussed here.
