The Shadow
Stock futures are indicating a lower opening Thursday on Wall Street after an unexpected rise in new jobless claims suggested continued labor market weakness.
The Labor Department said that the number of new claims for unemployment benefits rose to 480,000 last week, up 7,000 from the previous week.
Markets in Europe and Asia also slipped as the dollar rose against the euro on speculation the Federal Reserve might increase rates sooner than expected.
Investors will get more evidence on the nation’s economic recovery as the Conference Board issues its forecast of economic activity for November. Analysts expect the index to show a 0.7 percent rise last month following a 0.3 percent increase in October.
The report is expected at 10 a.m. EST.
Ahead of the opening bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 67, or 0.6 percent, at 10,384. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 8.70, or 0.8 percent, at 1,097.00, while Nasdaq 100 index futures fell 14.00, or 0.8 percent, at 1,786.00.
The stock market stalled after an early advance Wednesday as the Federal Reserve reiterated its commitment to keep rates low. The Fed also said it expects to wind down several emergency lending programs launched at the height of the financial crisis as the programs are set to expire next year. The Dow Jones industrials slipped 11 points, while broader indexes ended with modest gains but off their highest levels of the day.
In earnings news Thursday, credit card lender Discover Financial Services said its fiscal fourth-quarter profit slipped 19 percent, hurt by more bad loans.
Package delivery FedEx provided a cautious outlook for its fiscal third quarter after reporting second-quarter results fell 30 percent from a year ago. Its shares fell almost 4 percent to $86.60 in premarket trading.
Drugstore operator Rite Aid said its fiscal third-quarter loss narrowed, as a rise in prescriptions helped offset a continued slump in same-store sales. And General Mills Inc. said its fiscal second-quarter profit rose 50 percent as shoppers spent more on its cereal and snacks. The company also boosted its full-year earnings guidance.
Late Wednesday, the Treasury Department backed out of its plans to sell its 34 percent stake in Citigroup Inc.
The move came after investors responded tepidly to a massive stock offer by the New York-based bank, which is trying to repay $20 billion of the $45 billion in government support it received to weather the financial crisis.
Citi is the last remaining Wall Street bank in which the government still owns a major stake. Its shares were down 9 percent at $3.14 in npremarket trading.
Also, Bank of America announced that insider Brian Moynihan will succeed outgoing CEO Ken Lewis, ending a months-long search complicated by pay restrictions.
Meanwhile, bond prices were mixed. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.53 percent from 3.60 percent late Wednesday. The yield on the three-month T-bill, considered one of the safest investments, was unchanged from 0.05 percent.
The dollar rose against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.
Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 0.9 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 1.1 percent, Germany’s DAX index was down 0.8 percent, and France’s CAC-40 was down 0.7 percent.
