NEW YORK (AP) - Wall Street looked to extend its gains Thursday after the Labor Department's report on first-time claims for unemployment benefits was mostly in line with expectations.
The department said the number of laid off-workers applying for jobless benefits last week rose to 371,000, compared to the market's expectation for an increase of 370,000.
Although the weekly numbers can be volatile, the market interpreted the report as indicating the labor market remains weak but in check. It follows a slight drop in jobless claims in the previous week.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported that manufacturing activity in New York State deteriorated slightly in May, with the general business conditions index falling back below zero and new orders remaining close to zero. The Philadelphia Fed will release its gauge on manufacturing at 10 a.m. EDT.
The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo housing market index for May is scheduled for release at 1 p.m. EDT. The measurement of developers' sentiment about the U.S. housing market is expected to inch upward, a rare positive development for the battered industry.
Investors have been growing more optimistic recently that the economy may not be as weak as many feared, and that inflation, despite the soaring price of oil, is not out of control. A major concern for the market is whether higher food and energy costs are hampering Americans' ability to spend, a troublesome prospect considering consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity.
Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 24, or 0.21 percent, to 12,903.
Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 3.50, or 0.25 percent, to 1,411.50, and the Nasdaq 100 futures rose 4.00, or 0.20 percent, to 2,000.50.
Stocks gained on Wednesday as data indicated below-forecast inflation.
Light, sweet crude oil rose $1.14 to $125.38 in premarket electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.90 percent from 3.92 percent late Wednesday.
In corporate news, CBS Corp. agreed to buy online technology news and entertainment company CNet Networks Inc. for about $1.75 billion. The owner of the CBS television network and TV stations said the deal will boost its online presence and allow it to tap the growing market for online advertising.
J.C. Penney said a pullback in consumer spending cut its first-quarter profit in half, and predicted "difficult" conditions for the entire year.
General Electric Co. plans to auction off its Louisville, Ky.-based appliances business, according to The Wall Street Journal. GE has hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to run an auction for the appliance division, according to the newspaper, which quoted unidentified sources. The sale is seen yielding between $5 billion and $8 billion.
IAC/InterActiveCorp's Ask.com has bought a stable of Internet reference sites that includes Dictionary.com in its latest effort to distinguish itself from online search leader Google Inc. and other much larger rivals. Terms of the deal to acquire Lexico Publishing Group LLC. will be released later Thursday.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.94 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.26 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 0.23 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.14 percent.
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