NEW YORK — U.S. stock futures are pointing to a slightly higher opening Thursday amid a barrage of earnings news.
The rise in futures comes after gains in Asia and amid relatively flat markets in Europe.
The day’s earnings news was generally positive, but there were still some reports that were cause for concern.
Ford Motor Co. surprised the market with a second-quarter profit of $2.3 billion due mainly to a huge gain for debt reduction, while drugmaker Wyeth, cigarette maker Philip Morris International Inc. and candy maker Hershey Co. all raised their profit forecasts for the year.
A report from UPS Inc., however, was less upbeat. The world’s largest shipping carrier said its second-quarter profit plunged 49 percent as sales tumbled. The company also issued thrid-quarter guidance below analysts’ forecast.
Meanwhile, the government reported a bigger-than-expected rise in new jobless claims, though the report was distorted by the timing of auto plant shutdowns.
The Labor Department said the number of new claims for unemployment benefits rose by 30,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 554,000 — above analysts’ estimate of 550,000.
However, total unemployment benefit rolls fell to the lowest level since mid-April.
Ahead of the market’s open, Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 12, or 0.1 percent, to 8,845. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures added 1.90, or 0.2 percent, to 951.30, while Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 3, or 0.2 percent, to 1,559.50.
After a month of wayward trading, stocks restarted the market’s spring rally early last week after companies including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Intel Corp. got earnings season off to a good start with solid reports.
Though investors have been hesitant to make big moves the past two days amid a more mixed batch of earnings, analysts are still encouraged by the market’s recent progress, in which major indexes have risen more than 8 percent since July 10. The Dow Jones industrials are at their highest level since January, while the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 index stands at its highest point since November.
“We’re at a cycle high in the stock market here because investors are starting to realize that the recession is ending and that the economy is improving,” said Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors. “Things are getting much better and the market is pricing it in.”
A wave of merger-and-acquisition activity also supported the market early Thursday. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. said late Wednesday it is buying Medarex Inc. for about $2.1 billion in cash, the latest in a string of acquisitions by the drugmaker.
The New York-based company said it will pay $16 a share for Medarex, a 90 percent premium over Medarex’s closing share price Wednesday of $8.40. Medarex shares nearly doubled in premarket trading, jumping $7.49 to $15.89.
Meanwhile, Amazon.com Inc. agreed to buy Zappos.com Inc., a privately held online shoe store, in a deal worth about $850 million.
Ford’s profit was a huge improvement over the record $8.7 billion loss the company reported the same quarter a year earlier.
Without special items, the car maker would have lost $424 million, or 21 cents per share, still smaller than the loss of 50 cents per share analysts had been expecting.
Wyeth posted a better-than-expected 13 percent jump in second-quarter profit, as cost cuts overshadowed lower sales.
Xerox Corp. also said cost cutting helped offset weak sales. Its second-quarter profit fell 35 percent, but still beat Wall Street’s estimates.
AT&T Inc. and 3M Co. also reported declines in profit, but exceeded analysts’ expectations.
And Hershey said its quarterly profit leapt 72 percent thanks to a price hike and a new advertising effort.
Microsoft Corp. and American Express Co. are among those that report earnings after the market closes.
Bond prices inched higher in early trading. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, dipped to 3.54 percent from 3.55 percent late Wednesday.
The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.
Oil prices fell 72 cents to $64.68 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In overseas trading, Japan’s Nikkei stock average closed up 0.7 percent. Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 0.02 percent in afternoon trading, while Germany’s DAX index slipped 0.03 percent and France’s CAC-40 was down 0.5 percent.
