NEW YORK — Stock futures rose Thursday on a better-than-expected jobs report and strong U.S. corporate earnings.
Dow Jones industrial futures rose 13 points to 15,453. S&P futures added 3.5 points to 1,679.10. Nasdaq futures rose 0.75 points to 3,080.
The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell 24,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 334,000, the Labor Department reported, another sign of an improving job market.
While the weekly figure can be volatile, the four-week average dropped as well, by 5,250 to 351,000.
Part of the boost is coming from automakers that have skipped or shortened traditional factory shutdowns at this time of year because of soaring demand.
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The financial sector has put up big profit numbers over the past week, and that continued Thursday.
Morgan Stanley's net income more than doubled and revenue spiked 26 percent, sending shares up 4 percent before the opening bell.
Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs have all breezed past Wall Street projections with financial markets heading toward new record highs.
AMR Corp., which owns American Airlines, put up its first profitable second quarter in six years. The company is still operating under bankruptcy protection and it has cut wage expenses by 18 percent since last year.
Union Pacific said profits rose 10 percent during its most recent quarter.
Google and Microsoft report earnings after the closing bell Thursday.
Markets in Europe rose, while Asian markets were still being dragged down by a report from China earlier this week showing that its economy grew more slowly for a second straight quarter.
