US Stock Futures Remain On The Sidelines

US stock futures are largely flat on Thursday, after having risen significantly on Wednesday due to improving economic data. Investors are now looking forward to data on the weekly unemployment insurance claims. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 6 points at 10,266, while those for the S&P 500 were up 1.20 to 1,083. Nasdaq futures have gained 2.75 points to 1,823. After a tough month in August, economic data released by the US as well as China and Australia has been upbeat. Data on productivity, factory orders and home sales are scheduled to be reported on Thursday morning. The US government will be releasing the monthly jobs report on Friday. Investors are waiting on the sidelines till the jobs and housing data gives further clues on the health of the US economy. Various retailers are to report data on comparable same-store sales throughout the morning. Costco COST has already reported a 7% rise in comparable-store sales for August, while Family Dollar FDO has posted 6.1% growth in sales for the fourth quarter. JC Penney Co JCP and Wal-Mart Stores Inc WMT will be reporting their August same-store sales later in the day. Overall, retailers are expected to report a 2.8% increase for August, after the 2.3% decline registered in August 2009, according to Retail Metrics. Read more. The European Central Bank (ECB) has announced its plans to leave the key lending rate unchanged at an all-time low of 1%. ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet will be speaking at a press conference scheduled to commence at 8:30 am EST. On the other hand, Sweden's central bank has announced a 0.25 percentage point rise in its key repo rate to 0.75%. Read more from Benzinga's Markets.