U.S. stock futures were little changed Thursday as investors took in Wal-Mart's disappointing earnings ahead of weekly jobless claims.
More than two hours before the start of trading, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were two points lower at 10294. The S&P 500 futures fell 2.4 points to 1097.20 and Nasdaq 100 futures gained two points to 1813.75. Changes in futures do not always accurately predict early market moves after the opening bell.
Wal-Mart Stores reported a stronger-than-forecast quarterly profit, but shares slipped 2% as sales fell short of expectations.
There were also several European earnings reports to consider, with Daimler shares skidding as the maker of Mercedes reported a surprise loss and said it won't pay a dividend.
Investors Thursday are awaiting a slew of economic data, with weekly jobless claims, producer prices for January, the February Philly Fed index and January leading indicators all due for release. Economists expect the Producer Price Index, which measures inflation at the wholesale level, rose 0.7% in January following a 0.2% rise in December.
Spot-gold prices recovered earlier losses stemming from the International Monetary Fund's announcement late Wednesday that it will sell 191.3 metric tons of gold on the open market rather than to central banks. After earlier falling by 0.7%, or roughly $7, gold prices recently traded up 0.1%.
Crude futures fell in Europe Thursday due to a firming dollar and cautious sentiment ahead of key U.S. oil inventories data due at 11 a.m.
The hard-hit euro also was weaker, putting it on track for losses in six out of the last seven sessions as concerns over European unwillingness to detail specific measures on how they could help Greece continue to pressure the shared currency.
Most Asian markets fell Thursday, with Australian shares weighed as Qantas disappointed investors with its first-half results, while miners declined after the International Monetary Fund said it plans to sell gold on the open market.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.3%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 0.5%. Japan's Nikkei 225 ended up 0.3% after seesawing between positive and negative territory. Markets in China, Taiwan and Vietnam remained closed for the Lunar New Year holidays. In Europe, the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 reversed earlier losses to trade higher midday.
U.S. stocks advanced Wednesday, boosted by strong profit reports and economic data that reinforced investors' newfound preference for the U.S. over Europe as a venue to put their money to work. But markets did close off the day's best levels after minutes from the last Federal Open Market Committee interest-rate-setting meeting revealed a slightly more hawkish tone than economists had anticipated.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 each rose 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.6%. For 2010, however, those indexes are down between 1% and 2%.
