Economic Data Helps U.S. Stock Futures Recover

[Stocks-to-Watch]

Wall Street has taken a liking to the latest reports on jobless claims and U.S. housing market, largely erasing* earlier weakness in U.S. stock futures.

Dow futures rose 22 points to 11,877;*Nasdaq futures rose five points to 2318.75;*S&P 500 futures climbed 2.2 points to 1233.2.

Initial jobless claims for the week ended November 12 dropped by 5,000 to 388,000, which is less than the 398,000 initial claims that had been expected. It is also the fourth decline in five weeks. Continuing claims also fell.

Housing starts in October fell slightly in October to 628,000, but still bested expectations. And building permits also exceeded forecast.

Initially, U.S. stocks had turned lower Thursday as losses for European equity markets intensified on worries about rising borrowing costs for France and Spain.

Spanish bond yields hit 6.98%, their highest level since 1997. A 7% mark is viewed by investors as unsustainable, with both Greece and Spain forced to seek bailouts at similar levels.

In Europe, the Stoxx 600 index fell 1.8%. *

In the U.S., Dollar Tree (DLTR) rose 1.9% after reporting better-than-expected quarterly financial results. ModusLink Global Solutions (MLNK) surged more than 9% after the company’s board decided to explore options enhance shareholder value and hired Goldman Sachs*to assist in this effort. HollyFrontier (HFC) jumped 2.3% after the Dallas-based energy company’s second special dividend of the year.

Others didn’t fare so well.

Perry Ellis International (PERY) fell more than 20% after missing earnings expectations. Sears Holdings (SHLD) fell 2.7% afte reporting a*quarterly loss that almost doubled as*eeak demand at its Sears and Kmart stores hurt sales.

And J.M. Smucker’s *(SJM) earnings also fell short of Wall Street’s expectations, sending the shares*falling 1.6%.



Original Article Source by Barrons.com