By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
Central bank plans to buy EUR60 billion a month through
September 2016
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures swung wildly on
Thursday after the European Central Bank announced its
long-anticipated plant to breathe new live into the slumping
eurozone economy through the purchases of debt.
Futures shot up as soon as ECB president Mario Draghi revealed
that the central bank would initiate in March purchases of EUR60
billion-worth of private and public securities through September of
2016, but pared those gains after he mentioned that central banks
will share risks of losses.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, at last check,
(DJH5) rose as much as 170 points, but were last up 91 points, or
0.66%, to 17,606, and those for the S&P 500 index (SPH5) were
up 12.4 points, or 0.64%, to 2,039. Futures for the Nasdaq 100
(NDH5) gained 21 points, or 0.58%, to 4,206.7.
European Central Bank live blog: Will Draghi deliver on QE
expectations?
Opinion: As central banks surprise, Fed may have to throw in the
towel
In economic news, the number of people who applied for U.S.
unemployment benefits in mid-January fell by 10,000 but remained
above the key 300,000 mark for the third straight week, the first
time that's happened since July. Initial jobless claims declined to
307,000 in the seven days ended Jan. 10 from a revised 317,000 in
the prior week, the Labor Department said Thursday.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency was set to issue its index on
home prices for November at 9:00 a.m Eastern time. Then at 9:30
a.m. Eastern, data firm Markit will release its flash manufacturing
snapshot for early January.
On Wednesday, stocks closed higher after a choppy session. The
S&P 500 index (SPX) rose 0.5%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
(DJI) gained 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) added 0.3%.
Stocks to watch:Travelers (TRV) posted fourth-quarter profit
above Wall Street's projection, aided by a modest level of
catastrophe claims and higher premiums written. Shares of the
property-casualty insurer were up 0.8% ahead of the bell.
Verizon (VZ) logged earnings excluding one-time items that were
in-line with Wall Street's expectations. It also posted a net loss
in its fourth quarter on pension and severance costs, though strong
tablet sales helped drive growth. Shares were off 0.9% in premarket
trade.
Janus Capital Group Inc.(JNS) , which recently brought bond
market heavyweight Bill Gross on board, said its profit rose 22% in
its fourth quarter.
eBay Inc. (EBAY) late Wednesday reported adjusted fourth-quarter
earnings of 90 cents a share on revenue of $4.92 billion. It also
said it will cut 7% of its workforce, or 2,400 jobs from eBay
Marketplaces, PayPal, and eBay Enterprise this year.
American Express Co.(AXP) reported fourth-quarter earnings rose
to $1.45 billion, or $1.39 a share, after the bell Wednesday.
Revenue rose 7% to $9.11 billion. Card-member spending rose 6%.
Lands' End Inc. (LE) forecast fiscal fourth-quarter profit and
sales that were below Wall Street's expectations, citing
disappointing sales of its cold weather assortment and mixed
customer reactions in its women's categories.
Other markets: Hong Kong stocks overnight hit a four-month high.
Oil futures (CLH5) turned modestly lower, nearing $48 a barrel, and
gold futures (GCF5) were lower.
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