US STOCKS-Futures flat ahead of jobless, housing data

                                

                                
 * Initial claims, pending home sales on tap
                                
 * Costco Aug sales up 7 pct
                                
 * Futures: Dow off 9 pts, S&P flat, Nasdaq up 1.5 pts
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute market news see [STXNEWS/US]
  (Adds Avis bid, updates prices)
                                
 By Chuck Mikolajczak
                                
 NEW YORK, Sept 2 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were
little changed on Thursday after Wall Street's best day in
eight weeks and ahead of jobless claims and pending home sales
data.
                                
 Investors will look to the reports for insight on the
health of the U.S. economy before Friday's key nonfarm payroll
report. Initial jobless claims are expected to rise by 2,000 to
475,000 for the latest week. The jobless data comes at 8:30
a.m. EDT. (1230 GMT)
                                
 Private employers unexpectedly cut 10,000 jobs in August, a
report showed on Wednesday, but that was overshadowed by solid
U.S. and Chinese factory data. For details, see
[ID:nN01115648]
                                
 "They are going to look at the initial claims and see what
direction that points in. Everyone is anticipating more
negative numbers. It's just truly a matter of how negative are
these numbers going to be," said Chris Hobart, chief executive
of Hobart Financial Group in Charlotte, North Carolina.
                                
 "It just seems right now where the economy is and where
consumer confidence is, unemployment reports almost have a
bigger punch to the economy than we're used to seeing."
                                
 Other July data due includes factory orders, which are
expected to show an increase of 0.3 percent, rebounding from a
decline of 1.2 percent in June, and pending home sales, seen
falling 1 percent after dropping 2.6 percent to a record low
the previous month. The data will come at 10 a.m. EDT. (1400
GMT)
                                
 S&P 500 futures <SPc1> were unchanged and slightly above
fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into
account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the
contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures <DJc1> dipped 9
points, and Nasdaq 100 futures <NDc1> rose 1.5 points.
                                
 Retailers will garner attention as August U.S. same-store
sales are expected to show modest gains with discounts used to
attract customers. Analysts, on average, expected a 2.4 percent
increase in same-store sales, according to Thomson Reuters
data. [ID:nN31231650] and [ID:nSGE6800LF]
                                
 Costco Wholesale Corp <COST.O>, the largest U.S. warehouse
club operator, reported a 7 percent rise in August same-store
sales, aided by a surge in gasoline prices and foreign currency
gains. [ID:nSGE681069]
                                
 Avis Budget Group Inc <CAR.N> raised its offer for Dollar
Thrifty Automotive Group Inc <DTG.N> to $40.75 a share in cash
and 0.6543 shares of Avis in stock, a deal it views as superior
to the Hertz Global Holdings Inc <HTZ.N> offer. [ID:nWNAB2937]
                                
 European equities edged lower on Thursday ahead of a rate
decision by the European Central Bank, after their biggest
daily gain since May a day earlier, although auto shares
provided some support. [ID:nLDE68114V]
                                
 Asian stocks hit a two-week high, with Japan's Nikkei
briefly rising as much as 2 percent before closing up 1.5
percent. [ID:nTOE681008]
  (Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)