European Bond Sales Send Futures Higher

[Stocks-to-Watch]

Successful debt auctions in Spain and Italy helped send stocks higher in pre-market trading on Thursday, although investors’ enthusiasm was tempered by mediocre retail sales and jobless claim data.

Retail sales rose 0.1% in December, below analysts’ expectations. And jobless claims rose 24,000 to 399,000 last week. After the numbers were released, futures trimmed some of their gains.

Dow futures were recently up 16 points to 12,404; S&P futures were up 2.2 points to 1,290.2.

PVH (PVH) fell 2.6% after raising its earnings forecast, although the 2012 EPS forecast was at the low end of analysts’ expectations. Chevron (CVX) fell 2.3% after saying fourth quarter earnings would trail third quarter results.



Original Article Source by Barrons.com