Thursday, September 3, 2009

Market Notes - September 3, 2009

U.S. equity futures are up this morning, in part because Chinese stocks gained 4.8% last night, their biggest gain in six months.

Initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits fell 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 570,000 in the week ended August 29 from an upwardly revised 574,000 the prior week. The number was roughly in line with estimates.

In other developments, retailer’s same-stare sales for August are coming in mixed and the ISM Services Index will be released at 10:00 am ET.