Thursday, April 23, 2009

Stocks futures are weakening after weekly unemployment claims rose more than expected.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that new jobless claims rose to 640,000 last week. That was just above analysts' expectations of 635,000.

The total number of workers continuing to file claims for unemployment benefits topped 6.13 million, the 12th straight weekly record.

Stocks futures have been rising as stronger-than-expected earnings from a handful of companies boost hopes that the economy could be stabilizing.

Dow Jones industrial average futures are up 53, or 0.7%, at 7,869. They had been up as much as 82 points earlier. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures are up 10% to 847 while Nasdaq 100 index futures are up 18.50 to 1,342.