U.S. stock futures lost early gains Thursday after U.S. weekly jobless claims climbed more than Wall Street expected, denting enthusiasm a day before the monthly jobs report.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stock-futures-gain-ahead-of-data-ecb-2010-12-02?siteid=yhoof
Stocks rallied for a second straight day Thursday, with assurances of support from the European Central Bank helping ease investor concerns over the region’s debt, while upbeat U.S. reports on retail and home sales lifted investor sentiment.
“A lot of consumers are experiencing recession fatigue for having denied themselves,” Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at S&P Equity Research, said of positive sales data from retailers including Abercrombie & Fitch Co.
Better-than-expected economic reports from the U.S. and overseas in recent days have added “credence to bottom-up earnings forecasts previously viewed as too optimistic,” said Stovall.
Posting its first back-to-back sessions of triple-digit gains since late July, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
Dow Jones Industrial Average
(DJI: ^DJI )| Index Value: | 11,362.41 |
|---|---|
| Trade Time: | 4:02PM EST |
| Change: |  106.63 (0.95%) |
| Prev Close: | 11,255.78 |
|---|---|
| Open: | 11,255.93 |
| Day's Range: | 11,255.85 -11,373.80 |
| 52wk Range: | 9,596.04 -11,373.80 |
