Futures signal rebound as earnings, data eyed

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures advanced on Thursday, indicating the S&P 500 will rebound from a broad sell-off in the prior session ahead of data on the labor market and another round of corporate earnings reports.

Equities have been whipsawed in the past three sessions, with a 1 percent move in either direction in the S&P 500 <.spx> each day this week, the first such streak for the index since the start of February.

Worries about global demand have sparked sell-offs in commodities, which in turn have led to weakness in equities. However, some equity investors continue to use any dips as a buying opportunity.

Earnings are expected from 28 companies in the benchmark S&P index on Thursday, including Dow components Verizon Communications , Microsoft Corp and IBM .

UnitedHealth Group Inc , the largest U.S. health insurer, said its first-quarter profit had fallen, in part because of lower government payments for its private Medicare services and prescription plans for older Americans.

At 8:30 a.m., investors will eye weekly initial jobless claims data. Economists forecast a total of 350,000 new filings, compared with 346,000 in the prior week.

S&P 500 earnings are now expected to have risen 1.7 percent in the first quarter, up from the 1.5 percent estimate at the start of the month, based on actual results from 56 companies and estimates for the rest, according to Thomson Reuters data through Tuesday morning.

Of the 56 companies that have reported earnings, 66.1 percent have topped analyst expectations but only 48.2 percent have beaten revenue forecasts.

S&P 500 futures rose 5.2 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures gained 48 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures added 8.5 points.

Later in the session at 10 a.m., the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank releases its April business activity survey. Economists in a Reuters survey forecast a reading in the main index of 3.0 versus 2.0 in March.

Also at 10 a.m., the Conference Board will release its report on March leading economic indicators. Economists in a Reuters survey forecast a 0.1 percent increase compared with a 0.5 percent rise in February.

U.S.-listed shares of Nokia plunged 11.5 percent to $3.17 in premarket trade after a big fall in sales of its basic phones overshadowed a stronger performance from its Lumia smartphones in the first quarter, and the company said it expected operating margins to deteriorate.

European shares edged higher, with some investors seeing value after the market's worst four-day fall in nine months, although a crop of weak earnings and global growth concerns kept a lid on gains. <.eu/>

Concerns over global growth and weak demand pulled down Asian shares.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stock-futures-signal-higher-wall-street-open-085828854--finance.html

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