Stock futures up; jobless claims, GDP await Fed’

Stock futures up ; jobless claims, GDP await Fed’s Lacker says central bank faces several risks over its ‘exit strategy’
MADRID (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock market futures moved cautiously higher Thursday amid ever-present fears about a possible government shutdown. A big data day includes weekly jobless claims, a revised growth estimate and a home-sales reading, while a handful of Federal Reserve officials are on the speaking trail.

Stocks on the move included Bed Bath & Beyond Inc., rising after results, while J.C. Penney Co. shares tumbled on a downbeat broker note.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (CBE JZ3) rose 20 points to 15,230, while those for the Standard & Poor’s 500 index (GLC:SPZ3) rose 2.4 points to 1,688.20. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index (GLC:NDZ3) rose 11.5 points, or 0.4%, to 3,211.50.

“Right now it’s looking like a flat-to-marginally higher open for the U.S. indices, but nervous investors will have a keen eye on home sales and unemployment data, despite political wrangling in Congress,” said Mike McCudden, head of derivatives at stockbroker Interactive Investor, in emailed comments. “If there are further signs that the recovery is slowing, Congress and the Fed will have to get their collective acts together in double-quick time.” Read: What to expect from markets in the next 24 hours

At 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time, investors will get a reading on weekly jobless claims, with economists surveyed by MarketWatch forecasting a rise to 327,000, from a preliminary 309,000 the week before.

At the same time, a third and final update to U.S. GDP for the second quarter will be released. Forecasts expect the economy grew a bit faster at 2.7%, versus a prior estimate of 2.5%.

Other data includes a report on pending home sales for August and revisions to U.S. jobs growth for the 12 months ended March 2013, both scheduled for 10 a.m. Eastern.

A number of Fed officials will speak on Thursday. In Sweden, Jeffrey Lacker, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, said the U.S. central bank will “face risks as it pursues its ‘exit strategy’ from recent unconventional policies.” Lacker is a nonvoting member of the Fed’s policy-making committee.

“The combination of a very large balance sheet and forward guidance raises the potential of a timing error when it becomes appropriate to raise rates, as well as the consequences of such an error,” Lacker said in the speech. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-future...2013-09-26