US stock index futures flat as investors await flurry of data

Also, trading is expected to be quiet, with some market participants already out for the Thanksgiving holiday

US stock index futures were flat on Wednesday as investors looked ahead to a flurry of economic data that will be released throughout the morning, which could indicate whether the market's record levels are justified.

* While shares could see some pressure following weak results from Hewlett-Packard Co and Deere & Co, trading is expected to be quiet, with some market participants already out for the Thanksgiving holiday. The stock market will be closed on Thursday and will close early on Friday.

* Market moves have been slight of late. Over the past 250 sessions, the S&P 500 has posted an average daily move of 15.8 points, which the benchmark index has not topped in any session in November. The index's 14-day average move has dropped to 10.59 points from a high of 33.21 on Oct. 23.

 

* While this week's trend of below-average volume is expected to continue, that thin action could amplify market moves if economic data comes in much stronger or weaker than expected. Both the Dow and S&P have hit a string of records of late, and the S&P has risen in 12 of its last 15 sessions.

* Among the day's data, durable goods are seen down by 0.6 percent in October while weekly jobless claims fall by 3,000 to 288,000. Both reports will be released at 8:30 a.m. (1330 GMT).

* After the market opens, investors will look to the November Chicago Purchasing Manager's Index, sales of new and pending homes for October, and the final read on November consumer sentiment from the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers. Chicago PMI is seen falling to 63 from 66.2 while sentiment is expected to improve slightly.

* Hewlett-Packard fell 1.5 percent to $37.07 in premarket trading a day after it said fourth-quarter revenue fell in almost every business segment, highlighting weaknesses ahead of the company's planned 2015 separation of its enterprise services from its traditional computer and printing units.

* Deere fell 2.9 percent to $85.25 after the company forecast a drop in equipment sales in the current quarter, hurt by lower corn prices and falling farm incomes.

* Goldman Sachs Group Inc, along with platinum and palladium dealers in Europe, has been sued in the United States in what the plaintiff's law firm called the first nationwide class action over alleged price-fixing of the metals.