NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
A continued decline in the price of oil could fuel further stock gains early Thursday.
U.S. stock futures were up, although a comparison to fair value suggests a lower or flat open.
Before the open, investors got details on November sales from the nation's leading retail chains, which could give some insight into the strength of the all important holiday shopping season.
Sales at retailers were mixed, with J.C. Penney (Research) leading the way with a 12 percent gain at stores open at least a year. Its shares gained 90 cents to $40 in pre-market trading on Inet.
Wal-Mart (Research), the world's largest retailer, said it was looking for sales at stores open at least a year to be up between 1 to 3 percent in December. The company shook the retail sector over the weekend when it said November sales at stores open at least a year would be up only 0.7 percent, rather than the company's earlier guidance of a 2 to 4 percent gain.
Shares of Wal-Mart, a component of the Dow Jones industrial average, was little changed from Wednesday's close in pre-market trading on Inet.
Oil futures fell to 11-week lows in early trading. U.S. crude futures lost 68 cents to $44.81 a barrel in electronic trading, while Brent oil futures declined 81 cents to $41.50 a barrel in London, although those prices were up slightly from earlier lows.
The drop follows oil's largest decline in three years in Wednesday trading after a government report showing increasing inventories reduced fears of heating oil shortages.
The oil fall gave a strong lift to U.S. stocks Wednesday. (See chart for more details)
The decline in oil also helped Asian stocks Thursday, and European markets followed suit with gains in early trading there.
Among U.S. stocks trading in Europe, chipmaker Intel (Research) was up ahead of its mid-quarter sales update due after the market close Thursday.
The dollar was lower again early Thursday, although it was up from a record low versus the euro and a 5-year low against the yen. Bond prices were slightly lower, lifting the yield on the 10-year bond to 4.37 percent.
Economic reports due Thursday include the weekly reading on initial unemployment claims, which showed an increase to 349,000 from a revised reading of 324,000 the previous week. The report comes the day before the anticiated November jobs report.
In corporate news, Dow component Walt Disney (Research) announced after the market close Wednesday that was raising its dividend about 14 percent to 24 cents a share. Shares of Disney gained about 3.5 percent in European trading Thursday.
United Parcel Service (Research), the world's largest transportation company, announced early Thursday it will buy full control of the joint venture it operates in China with Chinese firm Sinotrans group to operate in 23 locations there.
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