U.S. stock market futures were largely flat, as investors weighed better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings from Goldman Sachs Group against an unexpected rise in jobless claims.
More than two hours before the start of trading, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were eight points higher at 10565. The S&P 500 futures gained 1.4 to 1135.4 and Nasdaq 100 futures edged one point higher to 1868. Changes in futures do not always accurately predict early market moves after the opening bell.
Before the opening bell, Goldman Sachs' group posted earnings that well outstripped analysts' earnings expectations. Shares were up 1% premarket at $169.72. The stock doubled in 2009 but is been down slightly for the year to date.
Xerox beat forecasts with earnings of 20 cents a share for the fourth quarter and set a slightly higher-than-expected full-year view. Shares were up over 3% premarket. Later Thursday, Google will report earnings.
On Wednesday, the dollar soared while stock markets and commodities took a hit as investors sought safety on fears of rising borrowing costs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed with a 122.28-point decline, its biggest drop since December 17.
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Bloomberg News
Lloyd Blankfein, chairman and chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs
Investors are focused on a possible cutback in lending by Chinese banks and the hefty price that Greece may have to meet to bolster its troubled economy.
Meanwhile, the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly rose last week -- an increase a U.S. Labor Department economist said is partly due to an administrative backlog in processing claims.
Total claims lasting more than one week, meanwhile, declined. Initial claims for jobless benefits rose by 36,000 to 482,000 in the week ended Jan. 16, according to the Labor Department's weekly report Thursday. The previous week's level was revised upward to 446,000 from 444,000.
While digesting the jobless claims, investors will also be looking at fresh data showing China's economy expanded 10.7% in the fourth quarter, slightly ahead of expectations. The data fueled worries over further tightening measures, sending the euro lower and the dollar even higher.
Asia markets saw a muted reaction overnight, closing marginally lower. "Markets in Asia haven't really reacted notably to the data but in recent days we have seen a delayed Western market response to news out of China so it's certainly one to watch today," said analysts at Deutsche Bank AG. Economic data scheduled in the U.S. for Thursday are weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m.
Airlines are in focus after AMR Corp.'s American kicked off carriers' fourth-quarter earnings season by narrowing its loss. Before the opening bell Thursday, Continental Airlines again surprised analysts, swinging to a profit in the fourth quarter on lower fuel costs while declines in a key measure of the airline's revenue abated. Southwest will continue the sector's earnings releases later Thursday.
Overseas, deficit fears continued to drag Greek stocks south, with banks leading the decline after a newspaper reported that Greece's budget deficit could be revised up to between 13% to 15% of GDP, though other European indexes made slight rises.
The dollar continued to gain ground against the euro, which wasn't helped by an unexpected slowdown in the expansion in Europe's service and manufacturing industries in January. The dollar was up in Europe at 91.71 yen, while the euro was down at $1.4059 and the pound had fallen to $1.6162.
Gold futures were slipping, down $9.50 to $1,103.10 an ounce, while crude oil futures were down seven cents at $77.67 a barrel.
