By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks futures edged up Thursday,
before the release of a weekly update on the labor market, and
after retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. cut its full-year
outlook.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJU4) rose 17
points, or 0.1%, to 16,636, while those for the S&P 500 index
(SPU4) picked up 2 points, or 0.1%, to 1,946.80. Futures for the
Nasdaq 100 index (NDU4) rose 5 points, or 0.1%, to 3,950.75.
The retail sector will be in focus, with Dow industrials
component Wal-Mart (WMT)lowering its earnings forecast ahead of the
bell. It now sees per-share earnings of $4.90 to $5.15, down from a
previous projection of $5.10 to $5.45, citing higher-than-expected
health-care costs and e-commerce investments as behind the cut.
Second-quarter operating profit of $1.21 a share met analyst
expectations, and sales of $119.34 billion were above
expectations.
Wal-Mart shares fell 0.5% in premarket trade, but had been down
more than 1% immediately after the results.
Also ahead of the market open, department-store operator Kohl's
(KSS) posted slightly improved second-quarter earnings from a year
ago, as lower expenses masked a decline in sales. Kohl's shares
pared gains to 2.4% in premarket action.
On Wednesday, retail stocks took a beating after disappointing
results from Macy's (M) and other companies, and as July retail
sales showed the weakest growth in six months. The SPDR S&P
Retail exchange traded fund (XRT) fell 0.7% that day.
Stocks on Wednesday closed higher, with the S&P 500 (SPX)
ending up 0.7% and the Dow industrials (DJI) picking up 0.6%.
After the bell, embattled retailer J.C. Penney (JCP) is
projected to report a narrower second-quarter loss of 91 cents a
share.
At 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time, a report from the Labor Department
may show initial jobless claims rose 11,000 to 300,000 in the week
ended Aug. 9. But even with that rise, claims would still be close
to pre-recession levels, boding well for the labor market, which
has been strengthening.
Also at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time, the Labor Department will report
on import prices for July. Economists expect a 0.3% drop, compared
with growth of 0.1% in June.
Corporate front
Nordstrom (JWN) will release results after the close Thursday,
and analysts expect the upscale department store chain to post
earnings of 94 cents for its second quarter.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) shares shed 0.9% premarket, extending
losses from late Wednesday, when the network-equipment maker said
it plans to cut up to 6,000 jobs.
Amgen (AMGN) late Wednesday announced disappointing results from
a late-stage trial of its blood-cancer treatment, as well as a
recall of prefilled syringes of its anemia drug Aranesp.
In other action, September oil futures (CLU4) gave up 13 cents a
barrel, while December gold futures (GCZ4) turned lower by $3 an
ounce. European stocks turned higher and Asian stocks finished
mixed, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng losing 0.4%.
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