Stock futures steady before data crop, MasterCard
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MADRID (MarketWatch) — Investors were sitting on the sidelines Thursday, with U.S. stock-market futures flat ahead of a clutch of economic data that are separately expected to show a pickup in jobless claims, rising consumer spending and a slight improvement in Chicago manufacturing.
On the corporate front, MasterCard and many other companies are scheduled to report ahead of the bell. Facebook Inc. shares will also come under the spotlight after the social-media firm reported results the prior day.
On the last trading day of the month, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (CBE JH3) (CBE JH3) (CBE JH3) were off 2 points to 13,836, while those for the Standard & Poor’s 500 index (GLC:SPH3) eased 0.6 point to 1,494.70.
Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index (CME:NDH3) fell 7 points to 2,728.75.
The economic calendar was packed with just a day to go until key U.S. jobless numbers.
Weekly jobless claims, due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, are expected to rise to a seasonally adjusted 355,000, up from 330,000 in the prior week. Holiday distortions and other factors make it a tough number to judge, but economists want to see if the five-year low for jobless claims will stick. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-future...atest_news