U.S. stock-index futures maintained gains as data indicated the jobs market was on solid footing even as the economy struggles to regain momentum after abruptly slowing in the first quarter.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.4 percent to 18,087, while those for the S&P 500 index added 0.4 percent to 2,103. Futures for the Nasdag 100 index gained 0.5 percent to 4,445.25.
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 264,000 for the week ended May 9, the Labor Department said today, within a whisker of a 15-year low reached two weeks ago.
In other data, U.S. producer prices fell a seasonally adjusted 0.4 percent in April to mark the seventh decline in the last nine months, mainly because of lower gasoline and food costs. Economists polled by MarketWatch had predicted no change in the producer price index after a 0.2 percent increase in March.
MOVERS:
Shake Shack (NYSE:SHAK) rose 7.7 percent after the hamburger chain boosted its full-year revenue forecast.
Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) fell 1 percent in premarket trades after the company topped estimates but said spending by telecom customers was not going to improve in the near future.
Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) tumbled 10.5 percent after the department-store operator reported lower-than-expected quarterly same-store sales, hurt by colder-than-usual weather in February.
Puma Biotechnology (NYSE:PBYI) sank 18 percent in premarket trading after details from a late-stage trial of its experimental breast cancer pill showed that it improved disease-free survival for certain patients only by 2.3 months.
Perry Ellis International (NASDAQ:PERY) jumped 13 percent after the apparel company raised its earnings guidance as wider margins led to better-than-expected first-quarter results.
COMMODITIES:
Spot gold rose to the highest since April 6 at $1,219 an ounce and was last trading up 0.3 percent at $1,218.05 an ounce. U.S. gold futures for June delivery was down 0.1% at $1,217 an ounce.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in June had been switching between small gains and losses and was last trading at $60.50 a barrel, roughly unchanged in the Globex electronic session.
OTHER MARKETS:
European stocks swung between gains and losses. The Stoxx Europe 600 had been down by as much as 0.9 percent, but has since turned positive and was at 396.57, up 0.3 percent.
Hong Kong stocks ended today’s choppy session higher. In Japan, the Nikkei Average declined 1 percent.
The dollar index fell to a 5-month low.
The 10-year Treasury yield eased back from yesterday's five-month closing high of 2.28 percent, but analysts say the momentum in yields remains upwards.