Indications: U.S. futures trim gains after jobless claims

By Kate Gibson and Polya Lesova, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) â€" U.S. stock futures posted a mild advance Thursday after the government reported jobless claims rose by 18,000 to 409,000 last week, while the four-week average fell to a 2 ½-year low.

“Holidays and weather likely impacted the data over the past few weeks, but the trend in firings is still clearly down,” Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak, said of the Labor Department data, which precede Friday’s December jobs report.

Analysts had hiked their forecasts for the upcoming U.S. nonfarm-payrolls data after Wednesday’s stronger-than-expected report on private-sector employment from payrolls processor ADP.

At last check, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average /quotes/comstock/21b!f:dj\h11 (DJH11 11,630, -34.00, -0.29%)  gained 16 points to 11,680, and S&P 500 index futures /quotes/comstock/21m!f:sp\h11 (SPH11 1,269, -2.80, -0.22%)  rose 2 points to 1,273.8.

Nasdaq 100 futures /quotes/comstock/21m!f:nd\h11 (NDH11 2,271, +1.25, +0.06%)  advanced 2.75 points to 2,272.5.

Oil-spill commission blames BP

A presidential commission investigating the Gulf of Mexico oil spill concludes that systemic failures and avoidable missteps contributed to the disaster.

On Wednesday, the Dow industrials /quotes/comstock/10w!i:dji/delayed (DJIA 11,684, -39.01, -0.33%)  closed up 0.3%.

Retailers report December sales

On Thursday, U.S. retailers including Target Corp. /quotes/comstock/13*!tgt/quotes/nls/tgt (TGT 55.23, -3.71, -6.29%)   and Macy’s Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!m/quotes/nls/m (M 24.35, -0.62, -2.48%) , reported December same-store sales that missed Wall Street’s expectations.

Discounter Costco Wholesale Corp. /quotes/comstock/15*!cost/quotes/nls/cost (COST 70.94, -0.05, -0.07%)  said its same-store sales rose 6% in December, while those at home-furnishings retailer Pier 1 Imports Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!pir/quotes/nls/pir (PIR 10.89, +0.23, +2.11%)  increased 10.3%. Read more about same-store sales.

On the earnings front, Monsanto Co. /quotes/comstock/13*!mon/quotes/nls/mon (MON 71.02, +1.89, +2.74%) , the giant supplier of agricultural products, reported a return to profitability in the first quarter.

U.S.-listed shares of oil giant BP PLC /quotes/comstock/13*!bp/quotes/nls/bp (BP 46.28, -0.22, -0.48%)   /quotes/comstock/23s!a:bp. (UK:BP. 496.90, -2.35, -0.47%)  gained in premarket trading after news that a presidential panel concluded the Gulf of Mexico oil spill resulted from “a failure of management” at BP, Halliburton Co. /quotes/comstock/13*!hal/quotes/nls/hal (HAL 37.92, -1.50, -3.81%)  and Transocean Ltd. /quotes/comstock/13*!rig/quotes/nls/rig (RIG 73.30, +0.05, +0.07%) .

/quotes/comstock/13*!rig/quotes/nls/rig (RIG 73.30, +0.05, +0.07%) In other premarket trading, shares of ARM Holdings PLC /quotes/comstock/15*!armh/quotes/nls/armh (ARMH 22.46, +0.58, +2.65%)   /quotes/comstock/23s!a:arm (UK:ARM 482.00, +10.60, +2.25%)  rallied after software giant Microsoft Corp. /quotes/comstock/15*!msft/quotes/nls/msft (MSFT 28.33, +0.33, +1.18%)  announced that the next version of Windows will support ARM-based systems.

Asian stocks ended mixed overnight. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rallied 1.4%, while China’s Shanghai Composite dropped 0.5%. See Asia Markets.

In Europe, equities traded higher, with the Stoxx Europe 600 index /quotes/comstock/22c!sxxp (ST:STOXX600 281.70, +1.22, +0.43%)  rising 0.8% in early afternoon trading. See Europe Markets.

Kate Gibson is a reporter for MarketWatch, based in New York. Polya Lesova is chief of MarketWatch’s London bureau.

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Indications: U.S. futures gain ahead of weekly jobless claims

By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) â€" U.S. stock futures edged higher on Thursday, tracking gains in European and Japanese equities, as investors awaited data on weekly jobless claims and sales reports from retailers.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average /quotes/comstock/21b!f:dj\h11 (DJH11 11,698, +34.00, +0.29%)  gained 34 points to 11,698 and S&P 500 index futures /quotes/comstock/21m!f:sp\h11 (SPH11 1,274, +2.10, +0.17%)  rose 4 points to 1,275.80.

Nasdaq 100 futures /quotes/comstock/21m!f:nd\h11 (NDH11 2,274, +4.25, +0.19%)  advanced 7.75 points to 2,277.50.

Oil-spill commission blames BP

A presidential commission investigating the Gulf of Mexico oil spill concludes that systemic failures and avoidable missteps contributed to the disaster.

A report on weekly jobless claims is due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, which will give more clues on the state of the U.S. labor market ahead of Friday’s closely watched report on nonfarm payrolls.

Data on Wednesday showed a sharp rise in U.S. private-sector employment for December, boosting sentiment on Wall Street. The blue-chip Dow index /quotes/comstock/10w!i:dji/delayed (DJIA 11,723, +31.71, +0.27%)  closed up 0.3%.

“Both today and tomorrow will center around nonfarm payrolls, especially after the incredible beat delivered by the ADP employment report,” said Mads Koefoed, market strategist at Saxo Bank.

Private-sector employment surged by a record 297,000 in December, Automatic Data Processing Inc.’s report showed on Wednesday. The number was well above market expectations.

“People are revising their estimates [for nonfarm payrolls] up and that is what is fueling the stock market at the moment,” Koefoed said. “What we’ve seen over the last couple of months has been very solid data from the U.S. from all parts of the economy except the labor markets.

“It seems that now this remaining stubborn sector is improving and that will really fuel sentiment that the U.S. economy is in a robust recovery,” he said.

Retailers report December sales

U.S. retailers, such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!wmt/quotes/nls/wmt (WMT 54.41, -0.36, -0.66%) and Macy’s Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!m/quotes/nls/m (M 24.97, -0.12, -0.48%) , are reporting December same-store sales on Thursday.

Discounter Costco Wholesale Corp. /quotes/comstock/15*!cost/quotes/nls/cost (COST 70.99, -1.34, -1.85%)  said its same-store sales rose 6% in December, while those at home-furnishings retailer Pier 1 Imports Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!pir/quotes/nls/pir (PIR 10.66, +0.27, +2.60%)  increased 10.3%.

On the earnings front, Monsanto Co. /quotes/comstock/13*!mon/quotes/nls/mon (MON 69.13, +0.34, +0.49%) , the giant supplier of agricultural products for farmers, is expected to report a fiscal first-quarter profit of 1 cent a share.

U.S.-listed shares of oil giant BP PLC /quotes/comstock/13*!bp/quotes/nls/bp (BP 46.50, +0.24, +0.52%)   /quotes/comstock/23s!a:bp. (UK:BP. 509.70, +10.45, +2.09%)  gained nearly 2% in premarket trading, as investors appeared to shrug off news that a U.S. presidential commission concluded that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the worst in the nation’s history, resulted from “a failure of management” at BP, Halliburton Co. /quotes/comstock/13*!hal/quotes/nls/hal (HAL 39.42, -0.13, -0.33%)  and Transocean Ltd. /quotes/comstock/13*!rig/quotes/nls/rig (RIG 73.25, +3.60, +5.17%) .

/quotes/comstock/13*!rig/quotes/nls/rig (RIG 73.25, +3.60, +5.17%) Shares of Transocean gained 1% in premarket trading.

In other premarket trading, shares of ARM Holdings PLC /quotes/comstock/15*!armh/quotes/nls/armh (ARMH 21.88, +0.79, +3.75%)   /quotes/comstock/23s!a:arm (UK:ARM 508.00, +36.60, +7.76%)  rallied 10% after software giant Microsoft Corp. /quotes/comstock/15*!msft/quotes/nls/msft (MSFT 28.00, -0.09, -0.31%)  announced that the next version of Windows will support ARM-based systems.

Asian stocks ended mixed overnight. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rallied 1.4%, while China’s Shanghai Composite dropped 0.5%. See Asia Markets.

In Europe, equities traded higher, with the Stoxx Europe 600 index /quotes/comstock/22c!sxxp (ST:STOXX600 282.59, +2.11, +0.75%)  rising 0.8% in early afternoon trading. See Europe Markets.

In the currency markets, the euro fell 0.4% to $1.3120. The dollar index /quotes/comstock/11j!i:dxy0 (DXY 80.32, +0.07, +0.08%) , which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, gained 0.1% to 80.339.

Gold futures were little changed at $1,374 an ounce, while oil futures dropped 29 cents to $90.01 a barrel.

Polya Lesova is chief of MarketWatch’s London bureau.

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NYSE Arca Morning Update - 08:30:00 ET

NYSE Arca Morning Update for Thursday, Jan 6, 2011 :

STOCKS TRADING ON NYSE Arca AT A PRICE 15% OR MORE AWAY FROM
THE PREVIOUS TRADE DAY'S CONSOLIDATED CLOSE PRICE (AS OF 08:30:00 ET)

Stock Wednesday's Close Current Price Pct Change Current NYSE ARCA Vol
QXM $4.82 $6.46 34.0% 7,882
ANX $2.67 $3.57 33.9% 202,963
CNAM $3.79 $4.42 16.5% 41,594

10 MOST ACTIVE STOCKS ON NYSE ARCA AS OF 08:30:00 ET

BASED ON DOLLARS TRADED: | BASED ON SHARES TRADED:
Stock $ Volume Price PctChg | Stock Share Vol Price PctChg
SPY $98,941,059 $127.94 0.3% | C 8,717,768 $5.01 0.6%
MFE $80,033,509 $47.36 1.8% | BAC 2,321,117 $14.61 0.8%
C $43,682,023 $5.01 0.6% | MFE 1,691,360 $47.36 1.8%
BAC $33,964,146 $14.61 0.8% | SPY 773,301 $127.94 0.3%
IWM $14,979,145 $79.64 0.4% | XOMA 262,554 $7.14 7.2%
EWZ $13,607,814 $77.73 0.2% | LXRX 226,716 $2.00 32.5%
GLD $12,869,005 $133.61 ( 0.6%) | BP 218,731 $47.56 2.3%
DIA $10,520,426 $117.37 0.3% | S 206,858 $4.75 2.6%
BP $10,366,562 $47.56 2.3% | ANX 202,963 $3.57 33.9%
AAPL $8,393,224 $335.82 0.5% | IWM 188,085 $79.64 0.4%

Price changes may be affected by symbol splits and dividends.

Consolidated close price is the last print (excluding prints with trade
conditions) prior to 4PM ET.

This information is also updated on our web page every morning at 8:35ET:
http://www.tradearca.com/data/volume/daily_update.asp

This material is for informational purposes only.
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