* eBay, Netflix jump premarket after quarterly results
* Caterpillar rises as profit beats estimates
* Jobless claims, leading indicators on tap
* Futures up: Dow 69 pts, S&P 5.8 pts, Nasdaq 15.75 pts
* For up-to-the-minute market news see []
(Updates prices, adds quote, byline)
By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK, Oct 21 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose
on Thursday on strong corporate earnings, including
Caterpillar, a weaker U.S. dollar and reassuring data from
China.
China's growth ebbed in the third quarter while inflation
edged a touch higher, showing the world's No. 2 economy is
still an engine for global growth and suggesting a recent
interest rate rise may be enough for now. For details see
[]
"The weaker dollar is again helping to propel equity
interest, and the market has recaptured the recent enthusiasm
as the China trade is back on track," said Andre Bakhos,
director of market analytics at Lek Securities in New York.
"Investors are starting to recognize a potential missed
opportunity as other asset classes are yielding paltry returns,
so the risk-reward profile makes sense."
Earnings remain in the spotlight, with Caterpillar Inc
<CAT.N> reporting stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings and
raising its full-year revenue forecast. Shares of the heavy
equipment maker jumped 1.4 percent from its adjusted closing
price at $81 in premarket trading. []
S&P 500 futures <SPc1> rose 5.8 points and were 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> gained 69
points, and Nasdaq 100 futures <NDc1> added 15.75 points.
The U.S. dollar fell against the euro on belief the
interest rate differential between the two currencies will
continue to widen, while expectations of more money printing
from the Federal Reserve also kept the greenback under pressure
against the yen.
The 30-day correlation between the S&P 500 and the dollar
index <.DXY> held below -0.9 for a seventh day running.
In premarket trading, online auctioneer eBay Inc <EBAY.O>
rose 7.2 percent at $27.50, and Netflix Inc <NFLX.O>, the DVD
rental and movie streaming service, advanced 13 percent at
$173. Both reported upbeat quarterly results late Wednesday.
[] and [].
Investors will also eye weekly first-time jobless claims at
8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT). Economists in a Reuters survey
forecast a total of 455,000 new filings compared with 462,000
in the prior week.
At 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) both the Index of Leading
Economic Indicators for September and the Philadelphia Federal
Reserve Bank's October business index are due.
Wall Street bounced back Wednesday as a fall in the dollar
spurred buying in industrial and commodity-linked shares, while
another batch of strong corporate earnings added to gains.
(Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
