* Futures inch up amid thawing in the credit markets
* Recession concerns persist, hit Asia, European stocks
* Merrill posts worse-than-expected loss
* Jobless claims, CPI, Philly Fed on tap
* Nokia posts weaker-than-expected Q3 sales, profit
(Recasts first paragraph, adds Citigroup, Merrill results,
byline, updates prices)
By Ellis Mnyandu
NEW YORK, Oct 16 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose
on Thursday as signs of further thawing in the credit markets
offset a spate of mixed earnings reports that did little to
dispel recession fears.
The cost for banks to borrow from among each other slipped,
indicating that efforts to loosen up credit may be working in
the most important, short-term markets. For details, see
[]
Additionally, bets that global central banks might again
institute coordinated interest rate cuts to forestall
precipitous contraction in global growth added to the positive
tone. Asian stocks fell and in Europe the major index was down
more than 2 percent.
"The reason the market rallies a little is because the
overnight (interbank lending rates) came in a little, which is
positive," said Dave Rovelli, managing director of U.S. equity
trading at Canaccord Adams in New York.
He added, however, that the lending rates still had to come
down a lot more for the banks to start trading with each
other.
S&P 500 futures <SPc1> rose 10 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 82
points, and Nasdaq 100 <NDc1> futures climbed 3 points.
Topping the economic agenda are reports on weekly jobless
claims due at 8:30 a.m. (1230 GMT), along with the September
Consumer Price Index, a measure of inflation.
Investors look for the economic data and the deluge of
corporate earnings to provide clues about how much damage the
credit crisis has done to the broader economy.
In a speech on Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke
warned that the economy faced a significant threat.
"Bernanke kind of left the door open to another coordinated
rate cut," said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist at Cantor
Fitzgerald & Co in San Francisco.
In earnings news, Merrill Lynch <MER.N> , which is being
bought by Bank of America <BAC.N> , posted a
steeper-than-expected $7.5 billion third-quarter loss, sending
its shares down 4 percent to $17.51 before the bell.
[]
Citigroup Inc <C.N> posted a $2.82 billion third-quarter
loss, the bank's fourth straight quarterly loss, hurt by
increasing credit losses and write-downs tied to complex or low
quality debt. []
Elsewhere, the world's top cell phone maker Nokia
<NOK1V.HE> reported weaker-than-expected third-quarter sales
and profits, but its positive view on the cell phone market
reassured jittery investors. []
(Additional reporting by Leah Schnurr; Editing by Kenneth
Barry)
