US Stocks Futures climb on Washington optimism

by **Cals** Thu 10 Oct 2013, 21:20

US Stocks Futures climb on Washington optimism

Business & Markets 2013

Written by Reuters

Thursday, 10 October 2013 19:45

* Chevron warns on Q3 earnings
* Initial jobless claims data on tap
* JPMorgan to sell physical commodities business
* Indexes up: Dow 130 pts, S&P 16.4 pts, Nasdaq 28.75 pts

NEW YORK (Oct 10): U.S. stock index futures rose on Thursday, as investors were encouraged by signs of a thaw in the fiscal negotiations in Washington.

According to a Republican leadership aide, U.S. House of Representatives Republicans are considering agreeing to a short-term increase in the government's borrowing authority, keeping a possible default after Oct 17 at bay, and buying time for negotiations on broader policy measures.

Investors await weekly initial jobless claims data — one of the few government data points being released during the shutdown, now in its tenth day. Economists in a Reuters survey forecast a total of 310,000 new filings, compared with 308,000 in the prior week.

The Dow and S&P 500 rose on Wednesday, on early signs of a possible break in the impasse between Republicans and Democrats in Congress, but the Nasdaq closed lower for a third day, as investors continued to sell this year's high-flying tech stocks such as Facebook Inc and Amazon.com Inc.

The Nasdaq TECHNOLOGY [] sector has shed 2.8 percent over the last three sessions — its biggest three-day drop since late June.

S&P 500 futures rose 16.4 points and were above fair value — a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures gained 130 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures added 28.75 points.

Chevron Corp, the second-largest U.S. oil company, warned on Wednesday that third-quarter earnings would be lower than in the second quarter, due to "significantly lower" earnings from its refining division, as fuel margins were squeezed.

S&P 500 companies due to report earnings after the close, include Micron Technology Inc and Safeway Inc.

JPMorgan Chase & Co has launched the sale of its physical commodities business, circulating offering documents to potential buyers and valuing the assets at $3.3 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter.

European shares rose and Japanese stocks moved to a one-week high, on signs of progress, to end the fiscal stalemate in Washington.