U.S. stock futures moved cautiously higher on Thursday, ahead of Wall Street's open, as investors awaited weekly- jobless-claims and factory-orders data and the outcome of the European Central Bank meeting. Paring back earlier gains, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked up 25 points, or 0.2%, to 13,4518, while those for the Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 3 points, or 0.2%, to 1,447.80. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 7 points, or 0.3%, to 2,815. U.S. stock futures got a lift in Asian hours as the first U.S. presidential debate wrapped up with Mitt Romney and U.S. President Barack Obama sparring over the economy. See streaming coverage of the debate Economic data for Thursday include U.S. weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time and factory orders for August at 10 a.m. Eastern. Economists polled by MarketWatch are forecasting weekly jobless claims of 370,000 for the latest week, versus 359,000 last week. The data to watch Weekly jobless claims are the data to watch ahead of Friday's all-important nonfarm-payroll data, said Christian Tegllund Blaabjerg, chief economist at FIH Erhvervsbank. He is forecasting claims of 360,000, saying markets could be in for a “positive surprise." “The moving average [on weekly jobless claims] is still trending downwards," Blaabjerg said. He expects that trend to eventually show up in nonfarm payrolls, delivering a “blowout surprise" on that data at some point. Economists polled by MarketWatch are forecasting a gain of 110,000 for September nonfarm payrolls. He also thinks forecasts for August factory orders are far too pessimistic. Economists are predicting a fall of 5.9% for August, but Blaabjerg said he thinks it will come in flat, given that a swath of sentiment numbers have been coming in positive. On Wednesday, the Dow Industrials rose 12.25 points to 13,494.61, eking out gains after upbeat data on U.S. private-sector job growth and activity in the services sector. Rate calls Away from U.S. data, the European Central Bank will also command attention on Thursday. Though most economists expect no change in rates, a decision will be delivered at 1:45 p.m. local time, or 7:45 a.m. Eastern time, with a news conference by ECB President Mario Draghi to follow at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. Read: ECB chief Mario Draghi's hands are tied Analysts will be watching for any comments related to the Spanish bailout situation. “Draghi will be a nonevent, with no rate cuts. If I were an investor, I'd be looking for nonfarm payrolls [on Friday] to verify the U.S. is on a recovery path," said Blaabjerg. Europe markets gave up gains to head lower, while Asia stocks pulled higher overnight, led by Japan as dollar gains against the yen drove up exporters in Japan. The dollar was largely softer, while commodities rose. Gold for December delivery gained $9.10, or 0.5%, to $1,789 an ounce and November crude rose 44 cents to $88.61 a barrel. Retailers in focus Retailers will be in focus on Thursday with a clutch expected to report same-store sales for September, including Target Corp. , Gap Inc. , TJX Cos. and others. Heading up the pack, Costco Wholesale Corp. reported a 6% gain for September same-store sales and an 8% rise for total sales. Shares of NuVasive Inc. could see pressure continue from the after-hours session. The shares fell 25% in late trading Wednesday after the medical device company cut its quarterly sales outlook. Read more about NuVasive's forecast in After Hours Marketwatch
