NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street looked to extend its advance Thursday ahead of government data on industrial production, housing and jobless claims that might deliver more insight about the economy's direction.þþThe Labor Department is due to post its report on unemployment benefits at 8:30 a.m. EDT. The data is expected to show that initial claims filed for unemployment benefits rose slightly last week after falling in the prior period. Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson/IFR forecast that claims rose to 370,000 for the week that ended May 10.þþThe Philadelphia and New York Federal Reserve banks are expected to report that manufacturing activity in their regions was flat or declined this month. The reports are scheduled to be released at 8:30 a.m. and 10 am EDT, respectively.þþAnd, the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo housing market index for May is scheduled for release at 1 p.m. EDT. The measurement of developers' sentiment about the U.S. housing market is expected to inch upward, a rare positive development for the battered industry.þþInvestors have been growing more optimistic recently that the economy may not be as weak as many feared, and that inflation, despite the soaring price of oil, is not out of control. A major concern for the market is whether higher food and energy costs are hampering Americans' ability to spend, a troublesome prospect considering consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity.þþDow Jones industrial average rose 30, or 0.24 percent, to 12,909.þþStandard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 3.00, or 0.21 percent, to 1,410.80, and the Nasdaq 100 futures rose 6.50, or 0.33 percent, to 2,003.00.þþStocks gained on Wednesday as data indicated below-forecast inflation.þþLight, sweet crude oil rose 68 cents to $124.90 in premarket electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.þþBond prices fell. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.94 percent from 3.92 percent late Tuesday.þþIn corporate news, CBS Corp. agreed to buy online technology news and entertainment company CNet Networks Inc. for about $1.75 billion. The owner of the CBS television network and TV stations said the deal will boost its online presence and allow it to tap the growing market for online advertising.þþJ.C. Penney said a pullback in consumer spending cut its first-quarter profit in half, and predicted ''difficult'' conditions for the entire year.þþGeneral Electric Co. plans to auction off its Louisville, Ky.-based appliances business, according to The Wall Street Journal. GE has hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to run an auction for the appliance division, according to the newspaper, which quoted unidentified sources. The sale is seen yielding between $5 billion and $8 billion.þþIAC/InterActiveCorp's Ask.com has bought a stable of Internet reference sites that includes Dictionary.com in its latest effort to distinguish itself from online search leader Google Inc. and other much larger rivals. Terms of the deal to acquire Lexico Publishing Group LLC. will be released later Thursday.þþOverseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.94 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.26 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 0.23 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.14 percent.þþ
Source: NY Times
