NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Stock index futures were little changed on Thursday after the S&P 500 posted its best gains since August in a powerful rally in the previous session.
Equities surged Wednesday after major central banks in a joint action agreed to make cheaper dollar loans for struggling European banks to prevent the euro zone debt crisis from worsening. The Dow posted its best day since March 2009, and both the Dow and S&P rose more than 4 percent.
S&P 500 futures dipped 1.3 points and were below 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 rose 3 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.5 point.
"The indexes enjoyed one of their best days in recent memory yesterday. The moves were strong enough to break above all of the resistance levels we began with yesterday morning," said Bryan McCormick, analyst at optionMonster.com in Chicago.
"Previous resistance levels are now support and back to where they were closer to the peak in October."
Potentially curbing sentiment, China's factory sector shrank in November in the face of weakening demand both at home and abroad. The data may feed worries the global economy was sputtering.
European stocks were also trading near flat after posting strong gains in the previous session as the market awaited more details from policymakers about plans to help end the debt crisis.
Spain will be in focus ahead of a bond auction, with analysts warning the sale could go like the one by Italy on Tuesday that drew reasonable demand but saw yields leap.
Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O) shares were up 5 percent at $16.50 in premarket trade after Reuters reported Blackstone Group LP (BX.N) and Bain Capital along with Asian partners were preparing a bid in a deal valued at about $25 billion.
Kroger Co (KR.N), the largest U.S. supermarket chain, will announce quarterly results.
AT&T Inc (T.N) and T-Mobile USA's parent Deutsche Telekom AG (DTEGn.DE) may form a joint venture to pool the wireless operators' network assets if AT&T's proposal to buy T-Mobile USA fails, the Wall Street Journal reported.
A day after a set of encouraging economic data, the market will focus on the Labor Department's latest report on the jobs market, with the release at 8:30 a.m. EST of weekly jobless claims. Economists forecast a total of 390,000 new filings, compared with 393,000 in the prior week.
The Institute for Supply Management releases its November manufacturing index at 10 a.m. EST. Economists expect a reading of 51.5 versus 50.8 in October.
The Commerce Department reports on October construction spending at 10 a.m. Economists forecast an increase of 0.3 percent, compared with a 0.2 percent rise in September.
The Federal Reserve releases weekly money stock, liquid assets and debt measures and the weekly report on factors affecting reserves of depository institutions and the condition statement of the Federal Reserve banks at 4:30 p.m. EST.
(Reporting by Angela Moon; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
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