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Mar 4, 2010
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Wall St set for higher open on retailer's sales

By
Reuters
Published
Mar 4, 2010

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK, March 4 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were set for a higher open on Thursday 4 March, lifted by better-than-expected February retail sales and a drop in weekly initial jobless claims.



Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 29,000 to a seasonally adjusted 469,000, in line with forecasts. For details,

Retailers, which were expected to have been hurt by the severe weather across the United States in February, posted same-store sales gains, boosting shares.

Target Corp (TGT.N) added 1.3 percent to $52.39 in premarket after it said same-store sales rose 2.4 percent for the month. For details,

Of 28 retailers reporting sales so far, 76 percent have topped analyst expectations, with a median surprise of 2.1 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data.

"They're great, and by my count only a couple of them actually missed, so people got a little bit too excited about the weather impact," said John Canally, investment strategist and economist for LPL Financial in Boston.

"The big test for the February weather story is in tomorrow's jobs report."

The Labor Department is set to report non-farm payrolls data on Friday 5 March.

At 10 a.m. [1500 GMT], U.S. Commerce Department data is expected to show January factory orders rose 1.8 percent month-over-month, nearly double the 1 percent rise recorded in December. Pending home sales, also due at 10 a.m. from the National Association of Realtors, are expected to repeat the 1 percent rise recorded in December.

S&P 500 futures SPc1 added 2 points and were slightly 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 DJc1 added 22 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures NDc1 rose 5.5 points.

Brokerages upgraded several Dow components, with UBS boosting its rating on Boeing Co (BA.N) and Coca-Cola Inc, (KO.N) and Bank of America-Merrill Lynch raising its rating on Walt Disney Inc (DIS.N).

Boeing shares rose 1 percent to $65.10, Coke gained 1.3 percent to $54.64 and Disney advanced 1.2 percent to $32.03 in premarket. (Editing by Padraic Cassidy)

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