By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch Jobless claims spike, consumer spending ticks up

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures pulled back on Wednesday after the first batch of economic data, slated to roll out Wednesday, came in softer than expected.

Weekly jobless claims spiked, rising over 300,000 for the first time since early September, in a sign that the pace of hiring has slowed a touch. Consumer spending climbed in October, while inflation, as gauged by the PCE price index, ticked up only 0.1%. Durable-goods orders rose boosted by military aircraft.

Reports on new-home sales and consumer sentiment are scheduled to be released after the market open.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJZ4) were off 7 points at 17,801, while those for the S&P 500 index (SPZ4) were flat at 2,067. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index (NDZ4) gained 2.75 points to 4,295.

A strong U.S. economic-growth figure and a surprising dip in consumer confidence left Wall Street stocks marginally lower on Tuesday, snapping three days of gains for the S&P 500 (SPX) and the Dow industrials (DJI). Volumes were already thinning ahead of Thursday's Thanksgiving Day break. Markets will close early on Friday. Stocks plummeted sharply in two separate instances as well on Tuesday.

Need to Know: Happy wealthy Thanksgiving and steer clear of Herbalife

Then at 9:45 a.m. Eastern comes the Chicago purchasing-managers index for November, followed by the consumer sentiment index for the same month. Reports on new and pending home sales for November are scheduled for release 15 minutes later.

Long the S&P 500, and oil worries: Chris Weston, chief market strategist at IG, has pointed out that funds are running the second-lowest short positions in S&P 500 futures for the year, while the cash market shows 88% of stocks are now above their 50-day moving average. That figure stood at 13% in mid-October, he said in a note.

This isn't screaming "selloff", as 20% of companies are still trading below their 200-day moving averages, said Weston in a note. But "a short-term move lower of 3-5% would be healthy for the next stage of the bull market to materialize, especially with the U.S. index trading at peak EBIT margins," he added.

Oil prices(CLF5) fell in a choppy session, as investors waited for Thursday's OPEC meeting. See: Saudi Arabia says oil market will 'stabilize itself'

Analysts at Jefferies said don't bet on any agreement coming out of OPEC that would be "big enough to spur a rally in Brent prices" in the near term. See: Oil traders are clearing out ahead of the OPEC decision

Stocks to watch: Deere & Co.(DE) posted better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter results but said it expects sales of equipment to fall by more than a fifth.

Hewlett-Packard Co.(HPQ) shares fell 1.7% after a late-session fall that was triggered by earnings that matched forecasts and revenue that came up short.

Hertz Global Holdings(HTZ) was moving higher after a filing showed that activist investor Carl Icahn increased his stake in the car rental company by a quarter.

Other markets: European stocks made moderate gains, led by the German DAX 30 index . Japanese stocks broke a winning strength as the yen perked up against the dollar(USDJPY). Gold prices(GCZ4) tipped south.

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