* Oil at 26-month high, approaches $91 per barrel
* Sonic Solutions soars 25 pct on Rovi takeover bid
* Futures off: Dow 1 pt, S&P 0.9 pt, Nasdaq 4.75 pts
* For up-to-the-minute market news see []
(Adds quote, Motorola Mobility, Micron, byline, updates
prices)
By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK, Dec 23 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were
little changed in light volume on Thursday ahead of a busy day
for economic data as Wall Street approached a fourth straight
week of gains.
Energy shares will be in the spotlight as oil prices ticked
up to a 26-month high above $90 per barrel, boosted by
unusually cold weather in the United States and Europe and a
surge in demand that fueled the biggest drop in crude
stockpiles in more than a decade. For details, see
[]
The Commerce Department releases November personal income
and consumption data as well as durable goods orders at 8:30
a.m. EST (1330 GMT). Economists in a Reuters survey expected a
rise of 0.2 percent in November income and a 0.5 percent
increase in consumption versus 0.4 percent previously. Also,
economists see a fall in orders of 0.5 percent versus a drop of
3.4 percent in October.
Also at 8:30 a.m., the Labor Department reports first-time
jobless claims for the week ended Dec. 18. Economists forecast
a total of 420,000 new filings, unchanged from the prior week.
"There's lots of data in the market today, I just don't
know if anybody is going to be at their desks to trade off it,"
said Kim Caughey Forrest, senior equity research analyst, Fort
Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh.
Other data due later Thursday include the Thomson
Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment report at
9:55 a.m. EST (1455 GMT) as well as new home sales for November
at 10 a.m. (1500 GMT)
Volume is expected to be light on the last trading day
before the Christmas holiday.
S&P 500 futures <SPc1> dipped 0.9 point and were flat in
terms of 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>
fell 1 point, and Nasdaq 100 futures <NDc1> fell 4.75 points.
The S&P 500 rose Wednesday to its highest level since the
collapse of Lehman Brothers more than two years ago, led by
bank stocks.
"We're not as convinced as the market is right now, and I
don't think we're alone," Forrest said. "I'm glad to see stocks
go up, but I don't think a lot of them have a lot of merit
underneath, looking at their anticipated earnings growth."
Micron Technology Inc <MU.O> shares slipped 2.8 percent to
$8.05 premarket a day after the top U.S. maker of memory chips
for computers forecast lower pricing for NAND chips, which are
used in smartphones and tablet computers. []
Motorola Inc's <MOT.N> spinoff, Motorola Mobility Holdings
Inc, will replace Meredith Corp <MDP.N> in the S&P 500 index
after the close on Jan. 3, according to Standard & Poor's.
Rovi Corp <ROVI.O> will pay $720 million in cash and stock
to buy Sonic Solutions <SNIC.O>, which owns the popular DivX
digital video player software. Sonic shares jumped almost 25
percent to $14 in light premarket trading. []
Defense contractor Raytheon Co <RTN.N> recommended
Wednesday that shareholders reject an unsolicited offer by TRC
Capital Corp to buy up to 2 million common shares, or about 0.5
percent of its outstanding stock. []
(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
