Stock Futures Hold Gains Despite Rise in Jobless Claims

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- U.S. stock futures were signaling a stronger open Thursday as investors became increasingly confident about the second-quarter earnings season after a spate of consensus-topping reports from companies such as eBay(EBAY) and IBM(IBM) .

Meanwhile, the broader markets were holding onto gains despite an increase in initial jobless claims.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were adding 42 points, or 51.30 points above fair value, at 12,902. Futures for the S&P 500 were spiking 4.7 points, or 4.17 points above fair value, at 1372. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 were gaining 15.5 points, or 15.68 points above fair value, at 2636.

Google(GOOG) , the Internet search giant, is expected by analysts Thursday to post fiscal second-quarter earnings of $10.05 a share on revenue of $8.42 billion.

Google posted a profit of $10.08 a share on revenue of $8.14 billion in the first quarter and earnings of $8.74 a share on revenue of $6.92 billion in last year's second quarter.

Google is expected to issue its report after Thursday's closing bell.

Shares were up 0.56% in premarket trading.

Microsoft(MSFT) said Windows 8, the upgrade to its operating system, will go on sale Oct. 26. The software is designed to work on both PCs and tablet computers.

The software giant also reports quarterly results Thursday and analysts expect Microsoft to post fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of 62 cents a share on revenue of $18.11 billion. The estimates don't take into account a write-down of $6.2 billion related to Microsoft's 2007 acquisition of aQuantive.

IBM eased past Wall Street's expectations in its earnings Wednesday but fell short on revenue, mainly because of foreign currency pressures.

For the full year, IBM lifted its earnings outlook, saying it now expects a profit of at least $15.10 a share, up from a prior view of $15 a share and ahead of consensus at $15.06 a share.

Shares were spiking more than 2.5%.

Internet giant eBay on Wednesday reported quarterly earnings of 56 cents a share on revenue of $3.39 billion. Analysts were looking for profit of 55 cents a share on revenue of $3.41 billion.