By Saumya Vaishampayan
U.S. stock futures rose Thursday ahead of data on retail sales
for February.
S&P 500 futures rose eight points, or 0.4%, to 2047. Changes
in stock futures don't always accurately predict moves in the stock
market after the opening bell.
At 8:30 a.m. Eastern, February retail sales are expected to rise
0.2%, according to economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal.
Excluding autos, retail sales are expected to rise 0.4%.
Separately, jobless claims in the most recent week are expected to
fall to 305,000 from 320,000 in the prior period.
For months, analysts have been predicting that lower oil and gas
prices will boost consumer spending. Oil prices have tumbled more
than 50% since last June. Increased consumer spending should in
turn boost corporate profits, helping push stocks higher. But the
pickup in spending hasn't yet materialized, even as the economy
continues to add jobs.
"This morning's retail sales report will probably be the first
sign of the positive impact of lower oil prices on consumers," said
Ben Pace, chief investment officer of HPM Partners.
"We've got better job growth. With more people employed and
lower oil prices...you'll start to see the underlying strength of
American consumers," he added.
Stocks ended slightly lower Wednesday after drifting between
gains and losses during the session. The Dow Jones Industrial
Average fell 0.2% to 17635.39 and the S&P 500 slipped 0.2% to
2040.24.
In European stock markets, Germany's DAX slipped 0.1% after
hitting its 24th all-time high for the year on Wednesday. France's
CAC 40 fell less than 0.1%.
In commodity markets, gold futures added 0.6% to $1157.50 an
ounce. Crude-oil rose 1.1% to $48.67 a barrel. Treasury prices
rose, pushing the 10-year yield down to 2.078% from 2.110% on
Wednesday.
In corporate news, Dow component United Technologies Corp. said
it would explore strategic alternatives for its Sikorsky Aircraft
business, which is known for its Black Hawk helicopters. Shares
rose 2.7% premarket.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has invested $200 million in Snapchat
Inc., which values the messaging company at $15 billion. Shares of
Alibaba rose 0.5% in premarket trade.
Write to Saumya Vaishampayan at saumya.vaishampayan@wsj.com
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