US STOCKS-Futures rise after China rally; jobless claims due

                                

                                
 * Chinese equities rebound,
                                
 * Weekly jobless claims, existing homes sales data eyed
                                
 * Futures up: Dow 11 pts, S&P 500 3.5 pts, Nasdaq 1.25 pts
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute market news, click STXNEWS/US
                                
 (Updates with Sears, Heinz earnings)
                                
 By Edward Krudy
                                
 NEW YORK, Aug 20 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edged
higher on Thursday following a rally in Chinese equities and
ahead of data expected to show a dip in jobless claims after a
surprise increase in the prior period.
                                
 A 20 percent fall in Chinese equities over the last two
weeks sparked a wave of selling in global markets on fears that
prices were too far ahead of the recovery. China's benchmark
index <.SSEC> gained 4.5 percent on Thursday, easing some of
those fears.
                                
 "There are a lot of companies who carefully watch Chinese
growth, particularly in the commodities sector. So it has a big
impact on how people view stock valuation," said Rick Meckler,
president of investment firm LibertyView Capital Management in
Jersey City, New Jersey.
                                
 Meckler cautioned, however, that volumes remained light
because of the summer season, suggesting trading did not
reflect decisions by big-money players.
                                
 S&P 500 futures <SPc1> rose 3.5 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 11
points, and Nasdaq 100 futures <NDc1> were up 1.25 points.
                                
 The consensus of economists is for initial weekly jobless
claims to fall slightly to 550,000, a decline of 8,000 from the
previous week, when they posted a surprise rise. It was the
first upward move in seven weeks as the labor market struggled
to stabilize. The data is due at 8:30 a.m. (12:30 GMT).
                                
 Later in the day, data on existing home sales is expected
to show a slight rise month-over-month in August to 5 million.
                                
In Europe, stocks <.FTEU3> rose 1.4 percent, led by oil
majors and banks, while Japan's Nikkei average <.N225> climbed
1.8 percent to bounce off a three-week closing low. (For
details, see [ID:nLK399206])
                                
 In the United States, NetApp Inc <NTAP.O>, a data storage
equipment maker, fell more than 3 percent to $22.22 in
premarket trade after it reported a quarterly profit that
topped Wall Street estimates but failed to give a forecast for
the current quarter. [ID:nN19488190]
                                
 Goldman Sachs added Google Inc <GOOG.O> to its Americas
Conviction Buy list and raised its price target on the shares
to $560. Google rose 2 percent to $452.84 before the bell.
[ID:nBNG514815]
                                
 Sears Holding Corp <SHLD.O> fell 12 percent to $64.91 in
premarket trades after the retailer swung into a loss in the
second quarter. HJ Heinz Co <HNZ.N> posted earnings of 67 cents
a share, above Wall Street's estimates of 62 cents a share.
[ID:nN20506280] and [ID:nN20379158]
                                
 Oil futures <CLc1> fell 0.3 percent to $72.23 a barrel
Thursday after rising more than 4 percent the previous day,
buoyed by industry data showing a steep drop in crude imports
and stockpiles that might suggest an improving demand outlook.
                                
 The bounce in oil prices helped U.S. shares on Wednesday.
The big three stock indexes ended up 0.7 percent.
                                
(Reporting by Edward Krudy; Editing by Padraic Cassidy)