Chain store sales reports will give markets first hard numbers about shopping season.
December 4, 2003: 5:17 AM EST
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Investors get a chance to check on the strength of the 2003 holiday season Thursday when the major retailers release their November sales figures.
At 5:15 a.m. ET, futures pointed to a higher start for the major indexes.
Over the Thanksgiving weekend, reports pointed to a strong start to the season, with No. 1 retailer Wal-Mart Stores saying it had record "Black Friday" sales of more than $1.5 billion. But one major chain, May Department Stores (MAY: Research, Estimates), has already said its sales were lower last month, indicating that consumers may be focused on discounters such as Wal-Mart and Target.
Among U.S. stocks trading in Europe, Wal-Mart was slightly higher.
One thing that could boost consumer confidence is a little more strength in the employment sector. The weekly jobless claims report due before the start of trading is expected to show a slight increase to 354,000 in the week ended Nov. 29 from 351,000 in the prior week, according to a consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com.
Investors will be looking past the jobless claims report toward Friday's November employment figures. They're expected to show the unemployment rate holding at 6 percent and the number of jobs created rising to 150,000 from 110,000 in October.
Also on the agenda Thursday is a meeting of OPEC oil ministers in Vienna, Austria, at which the idea of a production cut could come up. Saudi Arabia's minister suggested that a cut, putting prices above the cartel's $28 peak target, would help members weather weakness in the dollar.
Brent oil futures rose 21 cents to $29.35 a barrel in London.
There was some excitement around midday Wednesday about the Nasdaq composite index after it crossed the 2,000 mark for the first time since January of last year. But then investors got cold feet and sent the tech-laden index down 1 percent on the day to 1,960. The Dow Jones industrial average managed a modest gain Wednesday, and stands within 127 points of 10,000.
Asian-Pacific stocks ended mostly higher, with Tokyo's Nikkei index up 1 percent. European markets were little changed. (Check the latest on world markets)
Treasury prices were little changed, with the 10-year note yielding 4.40 percent. The dollar gained ground against the euro, which nevertheless remained above $1.20; the U.S. currency slipped versus the yen.
Among other stocks to watch Thursday is Intel (INTC: Research, Estimates). The world's No. 1 chip maker issues its mid-quarter update after trading ends, and analysts will be watching for more signs of a pickup in technology orders from businesses. Intel was 2 percent lower in European trading early Thursday.
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