Show Entire Article
Stock market futures indicated a flat open for Wall Street, with traders little fazed by economic data showing jobless claims remaining at an elevated level.
A government report showed that weekly claims fell 2,000 compared a revised figure from last week, but the four-week moving average put the number of filers at the highest level since December 2011.
With a lackluster jobs picture likely already priced into the market, the report did little to move futures, which looked for direction the day after a mixed bag of news from the Federal Reserve.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday announced an extension of the bank’s asset swap program known as “Operation Twist”, but stopped short of delivering another round of quantitative easing.
The Fed also revised down its forecast for U.S. economic growth this year. Trading was volatile Wednesday, with the market turning sharply lower during a Bernanke news conference, only to recover and end near unchanged for the day.
Traders were awaiting the remainder of a full batch of economic news for further clues about growth prospects.
Existing home sales for May and the Philadelphia Fed index of factory activity in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region for June both are due at 10 am New York time.
In company news, Best Buy shares likely will be called higher after the electronics retailer authorized a 6 percent dividend increase.
Page 1 of 3 | Next PageShow Entire Article
MSI News & Analysis
No recent news available
DATA IS REAL-TIME EXCEPT NOTED WITH *
* DATA DELAYED AT LEAST 15 MINUTES