Thursday, Nov 10, 2011

--Stock futures rally on back of Europe rebound, Cisco results

--Europe turns up on hopes for quick resolution to Italy's debt issues

--Cisco Systems surges in premarket after reporting strong results

--Data on weekly jobless claims, trade deficit on tap 


 
   By Tomi Kilgore 
   DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--U.S. stock futures rallied Thursday morning, rebounding from sharp losses in the previous session, as a bounce in European markets and strong results from Cisco Systems helped lift investor sentiment ahead of jobless claims data.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures climbed 124 points to 11856. The Dow slumped 389 points on Wednesday, the biggest one-day point drop since Sept. 22 and the sixth largest so far this year.

Standard & Poor's 500-stock index futures hiked up 18 points to 1244 and Nasdaq 100 futures rallied 31 points to 2342. Changes in stock futures do not always accurately predict stock moves after the opening bell.

In overseas markets, Europe erased early losses to turn higher, with the Stoxx Europe 600 up 0.6% after being down as much as 1.5% at its intraday low. Yields on 10-year Italian bonds remained above the key 7% mark, but have come off higher levels amid trader talk that the European Central Bank was supporting the bonds.

Investors were optimistic that a key economic bill would be approved by the weekend, which would help stem the government's rising borrowing costs and pave the way for Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to resign. Investors also felt some relief after word came that Greece named Lucas Papademos as its new prime minister.

Asian bourses followed the U.S. markets to steep losses, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average shedding 2.9% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng falling 5.3%.

Gold futures dropped to below $1,774 an ounce, while crude oil futures rose to above $97 a barrel. The U.S. dollar fell against the euro and the yen.

On the economic calendar, initial claims for jobless benefits during the latest week is scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. EST, with economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires expecting a tick back up to 400,000. Readings on the trade deficit for September and import prices in October are also due out at 8:30 a.m., EST, while a look at the federal budget in October is due at 2 p.m., EST.

In corporate news, shares of Cisco Systems ran up 6.5% in premarket trading after the blue chip networking company reported fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenue that exceeded expectations.

Elsewhere, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters slumped 33% after the company's fiscal fourth-quarter earnings matched estimates, but revenue was well below.

Advanced Auto Parts gained 1.6% after the auto parts retailer reported third-quarter results that topped forecasts and provided a better-than-expected outlook for full-year earnings.

Kohl's tacked on 2.7% after the department-store chain reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings and raised its full-year outlook.

Viacom's fiscal fourth-quarter results beat forecasts, and the entertainment company said it was expanding its stock repurchase program to $10 billion from $4 billion. The stock was still inactive ahead of the open.

-By Tomi Kilgore, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2470; tomi.kilgore@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 10, 2011 07:58 ET (12:58 GMT)