U.S. stock futures trimmed some of their earlier losses Thursday morning following the latest round of economic data, but remained in the red as a global selloff in the bond market undermined investor confidence.
Wall Street also has been unnerved by a lack of progress in Greece debt negotiations and by the possibility for the U.S. May payroll figures to be reported Friday to give the Federal Reserve ammunition to raise interest rates this fall.
Data released Thursday morning showed for the week ended May 30, the number of new claims for unemployment insurance fell 8,000 to 276,000, matching expectations and remaining at a 15-year low. The week prior was revised higher by 2,000 to 284,000. The four-week average of claims was 274,750, up 2,750.
Nonfarm productivity for Q1 was weaker than initially reported, revised to -3.1% from -1.9%, worse than expectations for a revision to -2.9%. Unit labor costs increased, however, to +6.7% from +5.0%.
In corporate news, T-Mobile ( TMUS ) is reportedly in talks to buy Dish Networks ( DISH ), while Opko Health ( OPK ) agreed to buy Bio-Reference Labs ( BRLI ) for $1.47 billion, and Dara Pharmaceuticals ( DARA ) agreed to buy Midatech Pharma for approximately $1.20 per American depositary share.
-Dow Jones Industrial down 0.4%
-S&P 500 futures down 0.4%
-Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.6%
SENTIMENT
Nikkei up 0.1%
Hang Seng down 0.4%
Shanghai Composite up 0.8%
FTSE-100 down 1%
DAX-30 down 1%
PRE-MARKET SECTOR WATCH
(-) Large cap tech: Lower
(-) Chip stocks: Lower
(-) Software stocks: Lower
(-) Hardware stocks: Lower
(-) Internet stocks: Lower
(-) Drug stocks: Lower
(-) Financial stocks: Lower
(-) Retail stocks: Lower
(-) Industrial stocks: Lower
(+) Airlines: Higher
(-) Autos: Lower
UPSIDE MOVERS:
(+) BRLI (+47.39%) Acquired by Opko Health ( OPK ) for $1.47 billion
(+) DARA (+31.91%) Reported a proposed acquisition agreement with Midatech Pharma
(+) AVEO (+21.55%) Received the EU regulatory guidance regarding potential MAA for Tivozanib
(+) FIVE (+6.84%) Reported better-than-expected Q1 results and raised FY15 guidance
(+) NEON (+6.75%) Development and license deal with Samsung Elect Ltd
DOWNSIDE MOVERS:
(-) VRNT (-3.89%) Beat Q1 EPS estimates, but missed sales forecasts.
(-) VWR (-3.64%) Priced a 16 million share offering at $26.25 per share
(-) PBMD (-3.24%) Regained compliance with Nasdaq minimum bid rule
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
