U.S. stocks were set to kick off the new quarter on a lackluster note, ahead of testimony by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and numerous economic reports.
The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits rose last week. Initial claims for state unemployment insurance rose to a seasonally adjusted 551,000 in the week ending September 26th from a revised 534,000 in the previous week. Analysts were expecting claims of 530,000 which would have been unchanged from the previous report. Continued claims fell to 6.09 million in the week ending September 19th from a revised 6.16 million in the prior week. A separate report showed the number of planned layoffs at U.S. firms fell in September, further showing signs that the labor market is improving.
In another report, spending by U.S. consumers climbed in August by the most in eight years, while income ticked higher for the second month in a row and inflation decelerated. Another burst of data is due at 10:00 am ET, with the ISM Manufacturing Index for last month, pending home sale for August, and construction spending for August.
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