US Stock Futures Up Ahead Of Major Earnings, US Jobs Data

US stock futures for the NASDAQ are up 7.25 points to 1,850.8; for S&P 500 is up 5.1 points to 1,094.16; for DOW is up 41.00 points to 10,415.54 on Wednesday 6.27 AM EST. At 8:30 AM EST, the US Department of Labor will release first-time claims for jobless benefits for the week ended August 14. Economists in a Reuters survey forecast a total of 476,000 new filings, compared with 484,000 in the prior week. At 10 AM EST, the US July leading economic indicators and the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank August business activity survey will be released. Earnings reports from a host of companies are expected to cause a ripple in the markets. With Hewlett Packard HPQ, Dell DELL, GAP Inc. GPS, SalesForce.com CRM, Sears SHLD, Staples SPLS, Intuit Inc. INTU, GameStop Corp. GME, and Aeropostale Inc. ARO being the major firms announcing their earnings today, it’s going to be a busy day for analysts and investors. On the corporate front, BHP Billiton BHP is focusing on getting regulatory approval before launching a fresh $39 billion “hostile” bid to acquire Potash Corp POT, and in the process, win over POT’s shareholders. Both POT and BHP have been in the news for the past couple of days. Meanwhile, oil rose to over $76 per barrel on Thursday, boosted by a rally in Asian equities. In Europe, the FTSE 100 gained 0.19% to 5, 313, the CAC 40 gained 0.80% to 3,677 and the DAX gained 0.58% to 6,222 at 6:30 AM EST.