Futures indicated a slightly lower open for the U.S. stock market Thursday after gold hit a new high above $1,120 and as investors waited for weekly U.S. jobless numbers. Volume is becoming noticeably lighter on Wall Street in recent days, but that hasn't derailed the generally bullish tone for stocks over the past week or so. The Dow is coming off its sixth straight day of gains, and both the Dow and S&P 500 had their highest closes Wednesday since October 3, 2008. The week has been notably light on economic stats, but we do have a key report at 8:30 am New York time, as the Labor Department releases its weekly look at jobless claims. Economists expect the claims number to come in at 510,000, which would be a small drop from last week's reading of 512,000. We'll also get the government's monthly budget statement at 2 pm New York time. And the dollar could be active after more comments from Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. Geithner told CNBC at the APEC meeting in Singapore that a strong dollar is important to global stability — reiterating the Treasury's strong-dollar policy. US Will Borrow Less as Banks Pay Back Funds: Geithner He also said the US is likely to borrow less than first thought, with the government expecting significant repayments of public funds with interest. The weekly report on oil inventories will be out at 11 am New York time, delayed a day by the Veteran's Day holiday. We should note that the holiday also delayed two events that we put in yesterday's note — the 7 am New York time release of mortgage applications from the Mortgage Bankers Association, and the auction of 30-year Treasury bonds. Both of those will be out Thursday, with the auction results available shortly after 1 pm New York time. The most prominent earnings report of the morning, by far, comes from Wal-Mart [WMT 52.97 0.66 (+1.26%) ] , the world's biggest retailer. Fellow retailer Kohl's [KSS 54.59 -1.77 (-3.14%) ] and Urban Outfitters [URBN 32.27 -0.50 (-1.53%) ] will also be out with their quarterly reports before the opening bell. Dow component Walt Disney [DIS 29.29 0.17 (+0.58%) ] reports after the closing bell, as does retailer Nordstrom [DIS 29.29 0.17 (+0.58%) ] . Applied Materials [AMAT 13.25 0.25 (+1.92%) ] will be a stock to watch, after it beat expectations with its latest earnings and announced it would cut up to 1,500 jobs over the next 18 months. 3Com [COMS 5.69 0.28 (+5.18%) ] will surge following news that Hewlett-Packard [HPQ 50.00 0.04 (+0.08%) ] is acquiring it for $2.7 billion in cash. The deal values 3Com at a 39 percent premium to its Wednesday close. In the news: RealtyTrac reported home foreclosures slowing for a third consecutive month in October, but also says rising unemployment will cause that lull to be temporary.

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