U.S. stock futures were mixed to lower Thursday morning, trading in a tight range as investors look beyond Dow 10,000. Another wave of earnings is due out today, including from financial giants Citigroup (NYSE: C) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS). Also, a slew of economic releases will be reported, including inflation and two key regional indexes. [[Update 8:15 a.m.: Futures turned lower after Goldman's results.]]Wall Street rallied Wednesday on earnings optimism, following upbeat profit reports from Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM). It was enough to lift the Dow industrials to its first close above 10,000 in a year. But some, like my colleague Dan Burrows, think it won't last.
Already, Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) reported that third-quarter earnings rose to $5.25 a share from $1.81 in the same period last year on net revenue of $12.37 billion, beating forecasts calling for earnings of $4.24 a share.
In addition to earnings releases, economic data is abound today:
- Starting at 8:30 a.m., the September Consumer Price Index is due out. The key inflation gauge is expected to have risen 0.2% in September, according to Briefing.com, after rising 0.4% last month. Excluding the often volatile food and energy prices, core CPI is expected to have edged up 0.1% in September, same as in August. Economists generally say that consumers may be slowly showing signs of life as the prices they encounter in stores remain low.
- At the same time, 8:30 a.m., initial and continuing claims will be released. Economists expect claims to have generally remain unchanged.
- Still at 8:30, October Empire Manufacturing index will be reported. It will be followed by another regional manufacturing survey at 10:00 a.m., when the Philadelphia Fed is due out.
Overseas, European stock markets were lower Thursday, despite an earlier rally in Asia.
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