U.S. stock futures climbed Thursday morning, helped by a surprise profit from aluminum giant Alcoa (NYSE: AA). Investors were encouraged by the news, hoping that it's a sign to come for the third quarter earnings season and that once again many companies will beat expectations when reporting earnings.Despite hopes early Wednesday Wall Street was in for a third day of gains, stocks ended up mixed and basically flat. But since Alcoa's beat came after positive surprised from Costco (NASDAQ: COST) and Monsanto (NYSE: MON), stock market futures are pointing to a positively higher open.
Alcoa unofficially kicked off earnings season late Wednesday, being the first of the Dow industrials to report results. It said it earned $77 million, or 8 cents per share in the quarter. Though it was 70% lower that last year's earnings, it was better than expectations. Alcoa also forecast 11 percent growth in global aluminum demand in the second half of 2009, largely on the back of robust growth in China. AA shares jumped 8% in pre-market trading.
Other stocks to watch today are PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) and Marriott (NYSE: MAR), which are also due to report. IBM (NYSE: IBM) too will be in focus as the DOJ opened an antitrust inquiry into its mainframe business, and Dell (NASDAQ: DELL), which said late Wednesday that it was closing a plant and cutting 905 jobs.
On the economic front, the Labor Department will announce weekly initial and continuing jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. Economists expect the numbers to decline from the prior week. At 10:00 a.m., the Census Bureau is scheduled to release August wholesale business inventories, which are also expected to decline.
Other stocks to watch today are PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) and Marriott (NYSE: MAR), which are also due to report. IBM (NYSE: IBM) too will be in focus as the DOJ opened an antitrust inquiry into its mainframe business, and Dell (NASDAQ: DELL), which said late Wednesday that it was closing a plant and cutting 905 jobs.
On the economic front, the Labor Department will announce weekly initial and continuing jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. Economists expect the numbers to decline from the prior week. At 10:00 a.m., the Census Bureau is scheduled to release August wholesale business inventories, which are also expected to decline.
Also, the lower rates caused homeowners to refinance their mortgages last week as refinance applications climbed 18% from the previous week, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday.
Overseas, world stock markets rose further Thursday after Alcoa's report that solidified hopes that the global recovery is on a sound footing. Meanwhile, the Bank of England left interest rates unchanged at a record low of 0.5 percent for the seventh month running on Thursday. The European Central Bank is also expected to keeps rates unchanged.
Overseas, world stock markets rose further Thursday after Alcoa's report that solidified hopes that the global recovery is on a sound footing. Meanwhile, the Bank of England left interest rates unchanged at a record low of 0.5 percent for the seventh month running on Thursday. The European Central Bank is also expected to keeps rates unchanged.
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