US Stock Futures Slightly Lower After ADP Jobs Data





U.S. stock futures were slightly lower after private-sector employment data beat consensus expectations, as investors awaited another raft of corporate earnings.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures edged down two points at 11971 recently, while Standard & Poor's 500 futures were off one point at 1301 and Nasdaq 100 futures were slipped three points to 2319. Prior to the data, Dow futures had been up five points, while S&P 500 futures slipped half a point and Nasdaq futures were off two points. Changes in stock futures do not always accurately predict early stock moves after the open.

The market was watching private-sector employment, which increased by 187,000 from December to January, according to the latest report from Automatic Data Processing. While January marked the 12th consecutive month of private-sector employment growth, ADP lowered December's gains, to 247,000 new jobs from a previous estimate of 297,000.

Investors will also be awaiting initial jobless claims data on Thursday ahead of Friday's closely-watched official monthly jobs number.

Wednesday's move came a day after the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its strongest one-day gain in two months, rising 148.23 points, or 1.3%, to 12040.16. That marked the blue-chip index's first close above the key 12,000 level since June 19, 2008, while the S&P 500 finished above 1300.

In pre-market trading Wednesday, shares of Electronic Arts rose 9.8% after the video game publisher said late Tuesday that its third-quarter fiscal loss widened as sales fell, but announced a better-than-expected forecast for the current quarter and a share buyback plan worth $600 million.

Mattel rose 2.3% in pre-market trading after the toy maker reported improved sales across its major divisions and increased its dividend by 11%, raising the quarterly payout to 23 cents a share.

Hershey was up 3.4% in pre-market trading after fourth-quarter earnings rose 6.9% as the candy maker posted sharply lower restructuring charges, while sales and margins both improved.

Investors were also watching for earnings from Marathon Oil and Allergan before the opening bell, as well as News Corp., which owns the publisher of The Wall Street Journal, and Visa after the market close.

In Europe, stocks rose, with the biggest gains seen in London where mining company shares gained. Shares of Spain's second-largest bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A., or BBVA, fell 0.8% in the wake of fourth-quarter results, while the country's IBEX 35 index rose 1.5%.

Shares of Roche Holding AG fell 2% in Swiss trading after the drugmaker said restructuring charges and slowing U.S. and European sales hit 2010 earnings.

Crude-oil futures slipped, as investors kept a close eye on developments in Egypt, where President Hosni Mubarak said he would not run in upcoming presidential elections after his term expires later this year.

Gold slipped, while copper was little changed at $4.54 a pound, after closing at their highest level ever on Tuesday.