U.S. stock futures turn up on claims dataWeekly jobless claims...

U.S. stock futures turn up on claims data
Weekly jobless claims fall to lowest level since April

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By Kate Gibson and Polya Lesova, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock-index futures turned higher Thursday after the government said U.S. jobless claims fell to a seven-month low last week, pulling some market attention from Europe.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJ1Z +0.03% rose 41 points to 11,885 and those on the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index SP1Z +0.22% gained 3.30 points to 1,234.3.

Nasdaq 100 futures ND1Z +0.08% rose 5.75 points to 2,319.5.
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Dow tumbles 190 points Wednesday

Stocks tumbled in the final hour of Wednesday’s session, capping a volatile day of trading dominated by a surge in oil prices and a series of headlines on the European debt.

In Europe, stock markets fell, with the Stoxx 600 index XX:SXXP -1.03% down 0.7% in afternoon trade. The Spanish and French governments conducted debt auctions and saw their borrowing costs rise. Spain’s 10-year government-bond yields surged to euro-era highs.

Commodity prices were also under pressure.

Crude-oil futures for January delivery, the most active contract, dropped $1.60 to $101 a barrel. Gold for December delivery GC1Z -1.42% fell $27.90 to $1,746.40 an ounce.

The euro EURUSD +0.49% edged up to $1.3524. The dollar index DXY -0.50% , which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, fell to 77.952.

The Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook Survey for November is due at 10 a.m. Eastern.

The blue-chip Dow index DJIA -1.58% slumped nearly 200 points on Wednesday after Fitch Ratings warned that the credit outlook for U.S. banks could worsen unless the euro-zone debt crisis is resolved in a timely and orderly manner.
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Dow Jones Industrial Average (CBOT) Dec 2011
$ 11,848.00
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7:09a Dow futures down 64 points to 11,781
11/16 U.S. stocks open lower as results and Europe weigh
11/16 U.S. stock futures maintain slide after CPI

Kate Gibson is a reporter for MarketWatch, based in New York. Polya Lesova is chief of MarketWatch’s London bureau.



Triple digit oil a fresh headwind for stocks
November 17, 2011, 2:01 AM

Crude oil’s settlement above $102 a barrel is another in a series of headwinds facing stocks, according to Alan Lancz of Alan B. Lancz and Assoc.

Crude prices surged Wednesday after a pipeline deal promised to reverse the supply buildup at Cushing, Oklahoma that has weighed on prices for months.