US Stock Futures Climb as Jobless Claims Drop

New York (Dec 24)  US stock futures were little changed on Thursday in what looked to be a quieter Christmas Eve trading session. S&P500 futures were flat, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 0.08%, and Nasdaq futures gained 0.08%.

Wall Street will close at 1 p.m. EST on Thursday for Christmas Eve and will be closed on Friday for Christmas.

Commodity markets appeared to have stabilized after a massive rally on Wednesday. Crude oil was on track for its biggest weekly gain in two months following welcome signs of slowing production in the U.S. and forecasts of higher prices in the long-term. West Texas Intermediate crude fell just 0.1% to $37.45 a barrel on Friday.

Norkfolk Southern (NSC - Get Report)  rejected Canadian Pacific's (CP - Get Report) latest bid, arguing that the new offer remains "grossly inadequate." Canadian Pacific had offered a higher bid on Dec. 16 after its first was rejected.

FedEx (FDX - Get Report) is reportedly having difficulty keeping up with demand. A number of retailers including Eddie Bauer and Pacific Sunwear (PSUN - Get Report) warned that holiday packages have been delayed and blamed broader problems at the delivery company, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Salesforce (CRM - Get Report) shares were on watch after the business software company agreed to buy SteelBrick for $360 million. The company specializes in cloud-based billing services.

Source: TheStreet