Futures Move Lower As Jobless Claims Rise

Stock futures reversed course and moved into negative territory ahead of Thursday's trading session after the Labor Department reported that first-time unemployment claims jumped unexpectedly. As of 8:55 a.m. in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 2 points, or 0.02%, to 10350, the S&P 500 futures were up 0.1 points, or less than 0.01%, to 1086.90 and the Nasdaq 100 futures were up 4.5 points to 1841.50. In the latest piece of economic data to show a slowdown in the U.S. economy, first time jobless claims rose by 12,000 to 500,000 claims last week. Economists had been looking for jobless claims to fall to 474,000, according to data provided by Thomson Reuters. "This report indicates that the pace of firings and layoffs has increased and is a negative signal for the employment report in two weeks' time," said Michael Gapen, an economist with Barclays Capital in an e-mail. The disappointing economic news offset a big M&A deal in technology, with chipmaker Intel Corp INTC announcing it would purchase security software maker McAfee MFE for $7.68 billion, a 60% premium to McAfee's Wednesday closing price. Shares of McAfee soared 55% on the news. As it has been for most of the week, the retail sector is earnings today, following results from Wal-Mart and Target earlier in the week. The names reporting today include clothing giant Gap Inc. GPS, department store company Sears Holdings SHLD, Staples SPLS and GameStop GME among others. To read the rest, head over to FOX Business.