A day after buying binge, investors to consider jobless claims and Oracle-PeopleSoft.
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - With Wall Street's fourth quarter off to a rollicking start, investors will await the weekly jobless claims Thursday and consider whether Oracle's bid for PeopleSoft will be opposed by the U.S. government.
At 5:30 a.m. ET, futures pointed to a mixed start for the major indexes.
Both the Dow Jones industrial average and Nasdaq composite index surged Wednesday on an array of developments, including a slowing in the pace of job cuts according to a outplacement firm's survey and stronger-than-expected auto sales in September. The Dow was up 2.1 percent, its biggest gain in more than three months, and the Nasdaq surged 2.5 percent, a day after both indexes tumbled to end a negative September but a positive third quarter.
Jobless claims are due before the start of trading Thursday. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expect an increase to 395,000 for the week ended Sept. 27 from 381,000 the prior week.
After trading begins, the government puts out its report on August factory orders. It's forecast to show a month-to-month decline of 0.5 percent, compared with a 1.6 percent increase in July.
Oracle's hostile $7.3 billion bid for rival business software publisher PeopleSoft will draw some attention after a USA Today report that the U.S. Justice Department is preparing a possible antitrust challenge to the offer. Among U.S. stocks trading in Europe, Oracle (ORCL: Research, Estimates) was 2 percent higher; PeopleSoft (PSFT: Research, Estimates) closed Wednesday at $18.95, up 68 cents.
Asian-Pacific stocks rallied Thursday, following Wall Street's lead; Tokyo's Nikkei index gained 2.2 percent. European markets were generally higher in early trading. (Check the latest on world markets)
Treasury prices tumbled in early trading, sending the 10-year note yield up to 4.02 percent from 3.93 percent late Wednesday. The dollar gained ground against the yen and euro.
Brent oil futures advanced 2 cents to $27.55 a barrel in London, where gold was higher in early trading.
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - With Wall Street's fourth quarter off to a rollicking start, investors will await the weekly jobless claims Thursday and consider whether Oracle's bid for PeopleSoft will be opposed by the U.S. government.
At 5:30 a.m. ET, futures pointed to a mixed start for the major indexes.
Both the Dow Jones industrial average and Nasdaq composite index surged Wednesday on an array of developments, including a slowing in the pace of job cuts according to a outplacement firm's survey and stronger-than-expected auto sales in September. The Dow was up 2.1 percent, its biggest gain in more than three months, and the Nasdaq surged 2.5 percent, a day after both indexes tumbled to end a negative September but a positive third quarter.
Jobless claims are due before the start of trading Thursday. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expect an increase to 395,000 for the week ended Sept. 27 from 381,000 the prior week.
After trading begins, the government puts out its report on August factory orders. It's forecast to show a month-to-month decline of 0.5 percent, compared with a 1.6 percent increase in July.
Oracle's hostile $7.3 billion bid for rival business software publisher PeopleSoft will draw some attention after a USA Today report that the U.S. Justice Department is preparing a possible antitrust challenge to the offer. Among U.S. stocks trading in Europe, Oracle (ORCL: Research, Estimates) was 2 percent higher; PeopleSoft (PSFT: Research, Estimates) closed Wednesday at $18.95, up 68 cents.
Asian-Pacific stocks rallied Thursday, following Wall Street's lead; Tokyo's Nikkei index gained 2.2 percent. European markets were generally higher in early trading. (Check the latest on world markets)
Treasury prices tumbled in early trading, sending the 10-year note yield up to 4.02 percent from 3.93 percent late Wednesday. The dollar gained ground against the yen and euro.
Brent oil futures advanced 2 cents to $27.55 a barrel in London, where gold was higher in early trading.
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