Stocks: 5 things to know before the open
Click chart for in-depth premarket data.
It’s Thursday. Time for some trading?
Here are the five things you need to know before the opening bell rings in New York:
1. Stock market movers — Salesforce.com, Transocean: Salesforce.com ( CRM , Tech30 ) looks set to surge after the company reported better-than-expected earnings.
Shares in the oil drilling services firm Transocean ( RIG ) are rising by about 2.5% premarket after the company said it had reached two settlements related to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010.
The first settlement will see the company pay roughly $ 212 million to plaintiffs. The second settlement with BP ( BP ) will see both companies drop their legal wranglings over the incident.
“These settlements provide substantial closure to five years of litigation,” said Transocean CEO Jeremy Thigpen in a statement.
Shares in BP are also edging up by 0.6% in London, outperforming the overall market.
2. Stock market overview: U.S. stock futures are looking soft ahead of the open. European markets are mostly lower in early trading.
Asian markets ended with mixed results.
3. Earnings: Best Buy ( BBY ) and Dollar Tree ( DLTR ) are reporting ahead of the open. Hewlett-Packard ( HPQ , Tech30 ) and The Gap ( GPS ) will report after the close.
4. Economics: The U.S. government will post weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. ET.
The National Association of Realtors will report existing home sales data at 10 a.m. ET.
5. Wednesday market recap: The Dow Jones industrial average fell 27 points on Wednesday, dipping back after hitting a record closing high earlier in the week. The S&P 500 slid 0.1% and the Nasdaq was unchanged.