Stocks Looking For Direction Thursday Morning Ahead of Q2 GDP, Jobless Claims Data

(RTTNews) - US stocks were poised for a lackluster open Thursday morning in New York ahead of jobless claims numbers and a preliminary reading on second quarter GDP.

As of 6 am ET, the S&P Futures were down a point, the Nasdaq Futures were down 2 points, and the Dow Futures were down 4 points.

Stocks ended Wednesday’s session with notable gains following the release of an economic report showing a bigger than expected increase in durable goods orders.

However, with the price of oil hovering near $119 a barrel amid concerns that Tropical Storm Gustav will interrupt supplies from the Gulf of Mexico.

Thursday morning, the Commerce Department will release its preliminary report on second quarter GDP, which is the broadest measure of economic activity.

“Second quarter growth will probably be revised up sharply - to about a 2.9 percent annual rate from the already respectable 1.9 percent originally reported,” predict the analysts at UBS.

At the same time, the Labor Department will release its weekly jobless claims data. Analysts are expecting initial jobless claims to slip to 425,000 from the previous week’s reading of 432,000.

On the earnings front, Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) reported net income of $65 million, or $0.50 per diluted share, for the second quarter, compared with net income of $173 million, or $1.15 per diluted share, in the same quarter last year.

The second-quarter 2008 results include the positive impact of the reversal of a $37 million after tax or $0.29 per diluted share reserve. Excluding this item, earnings per diluted share were $0.21 for the second quarter of fiscal 2008. On average, 5 analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial expected earnings of $0.33 per share.

Tiffany (TIF) and Brown-Forman (BFB) are also scheduled to report their quarterly results before the opening bell on Thursday.

Asian stocks were mixed on Thursday, with the Hang Seng of Hong Kong dropping 492 points and Tokyo’s Nikkei rising 15 points.

In European intraday dealing, the FTSE of the the UK was up 12 points, while the DAX of Germany was down 9 points and the CAC of France was down 3 points.

For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com

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