Stocks looking up
U.S. markets headed for higher open as oil prices trade short of record levels; Continental to cut 3,000 jobs, idle 67 planes.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- U.S. stocks were set to open higher Thursday as oil prices remained short of the record levels that have raised so much inflationary concern.
At 7:38 a.m. ET, Nasdaq and S&P futures were higher. The markets ended mixed Wednesday, with the Nasdaq composite index rising and the Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 index edging lower.
Markets Oil rose slightly early Thursday, after dipping below $122 a barrel in overnight trading amid indications of lower worldwide demand. Two weeks ago, oil hit at intraday record of $135.09.
Asian stocks ended mixed Thursday, with Tokyo's Nikkei index down 0.7%. European markets were mixed in early trading. The dollar gained against the yen but was down slightly against the euro.
Airlines Continental Airlines (CAL, Fortune 500) said it would ax 3,000 jobs, out of a total workforce of 45,000, and ground 67 airplanes. In addition, Chief Executive Larry Kellner and president Jeff Smisek have declined their salaries for the rest of the year. Like other airlines, the executives blamed the high cost of fuel for their troubles.
Continental's cuts follow a Wednesday statement from United Airlines, owned by UAL Corp., (UAUA, Fortune 500) that it would cut up to 1,600 jobs and ground 100 planes through 2009.
Retail sales Individual retailers were issuing monthly sales reports for May early Thursday, in a key signal about what Americans are doing with the stimulus checks they've received over the past month.
Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) credited the stimulus checks with boosting its sales by 3.9% in May, beating the 1.6% gain expected by Thomson Reuters data.
Costco Wholesale (COST, Fortune 500) reported a gain of 9% for the month of May, trumping the 6.9% increase projected by Thomson Reuters data. Costco attributed the rise to high gasoline prices, food inflation and the weak dollar.
Overall, Thomson Reuters is expecting stores that have been open for at least one year to report an average sales gain of 1.2% for the month of May.
Telecom, wireless mergers France Telecom (FTE), the leading telecom operator in France, said it opened talks on a $42 billion takeover bid for TeliaSonera, according to the AP, but the Swiss telecom said the bid was too low.
Verizon Wireless (VZ, Fortune 500) is in talks to purchase its rival wireless network Alltel in a possible $27 billion deal, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. A Verizon-Alltel merger would create an 80 million subscriber telecom giant that would rival AT&T (ATT). 
