Before the bell: Futures edge higher ahead of jobs data

Posted Dec 10th 2009 7:45AM by Melly Alazraki
Filed under: Before the Bell, International Markets, Time Warner (TWX), Market Matters, Costco Wholesale (COST), Economic Data, Oil, AOL (AOL)

U.S. stock futures advanced Thursday morning ahead of some key data about the labor market. For now, Wednesday's positive momentum, spurred by several heavyweight upgrades, is poised to continue as President Obama prepares to accept the Nobel Peace Prize.

The focus this morning is mostly on economic data. At 8:30 a.m., weekly initial and continuing jobless claims data are due out. Initial claims are expected to have declined by 2,000 last week to 455,000, according to Briefing.com. Continuing claims are forecast to have dropped to 5,450,000 last week from 5,465,000 the week before. The Bureau of Labor Statistics will also publish projections on job growth by industry later today.

At the same time, the October trade gap will be reported and is expected to have widened to $36.8 billion from $36.5 billion in September.

At noon, the Federal Reserve will publish the flow of funds and the Treasury budget is due at 2:00 p.m., which should show a deficit of $131.6 billion in November after a $176.4 billion shortfall in October.

Meanwhile, the number of foreclosures fell 8% in November, the fourth straight monthly decline, as mortgage companies evaluated whether borrowers were eligible for help. Nearly 307,000 households, or one in every 417 homes, received a foreclosure-related notice in November, according to RealtyTrac Inc. .

Overseas, Asian markets ended lower with Japan's Nikkei index down 1.4%, while European indexes rose in morning trading. The Bank of England is holding interest rates steady at 0.5% and leaving its 200 billion pound ($325 billion) program to expand the money supply unchanged.

Oil hovered below $71 a barrel on Thursday, after falling more than 2% in the previous session following weekly inventory data highlighting the weak state of demand in the U.S. The dollar gained against the euro and yen, and was flat versus the U.K. pound.

Of stocks in focus, Costco (COST) reported earnings and met analyst estimates. AOL -- the parent of BloggingStocks -- will begin trading after being spun off from Time Warner (TWX) Wednesday.

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