November 01, 2012-Stocks Look to Trade Higher on Upbeat US Jobs Data

After turning in a lackluster performance in the previous session, stocks may move modestly higher in early trading on Thursday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a slightly higher open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by 20 points. The upward momentum for the markets may be partly due to the release of some upbeat economic data, including a report from payroll processor Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP) showing stronger than expected private sector job growth. ADP said private sector employment increased by 158,000 jobs in October compared to economist estimates for an increase of about 135,000 jobs. The Labor Department also released a report showing an unexpected drop in initial jobless claims in the week ended October 27th. The report said initial jobless claims fell to 363,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 372,000. The drop surprised economists, who had expected jobless claims to come in unchanged compared to the 369,000 originally reported for the previous week.