NEW YORK (AP) ? Stock futures are higher after the government said claims for unemployment benefits rose unexpectedly last week.
The Labor Department said Thursday morning that first-time claims for unemployment benefits rose by 11,000 to 428,000 last week. Economists had forecast that applications would drop. A surprise reading often sets the tone for stock market trading later in the day.
After the figures on unemployment benefits were released, stock futures pared their early gains but then pushed higher again.
A half hour before the opening bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures are up 95 points to 11,261. S&P 500 index futures are up 10 points to 1,192. Nasdaq 100 futures are up 24 points to 2,269.
In a separate report, consumer prices rose 0.4 percent in August. That’s slightly more than economists expected.
In premarket trading, the Swiss bank UBS plunged 10 percent. UBS said a trader could cost the bank as much as $2.2 billion. Switzerland’s largest bank warned that it could post a loss for the quarter as a result of the unauthorized trade.
Netflix fell 13 percent after the company said it expects fewer people to subscribe to its DVD-by-mail service as well as its streaming movie service.
A reports on regional manufacturing is due out later Thursday morning. The Federal Reserve will release the report at 9:15 a.m. Eastern time.
A show of support by Germany and France for Greece lifted stocks on Wednesday. The Dow has jumped 3 percent over three straight days of gains but is still down for the month.