Stocks set to jump on jobs data

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks were set to extend gains Thursday as investors reacted to a pair of jobs reports that showed stronger-than-expected results.

Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq (COMP) futures were all higher ahead of the opening bell, getting an extra boost after the jobs reports. Futures measure current index values against perceived future performance.

U.S. stocks recovered from early losses to close near session highs Wednesday. The rebound came after EU officials pushed back against recent downgrades of Greek and Portuguese debt, raising speculation that the union could move to minimize the impact of the ratings agencies.

Economy: The U.S. government's weekly report on initial unemployment claims came out before the start of trading and was a bit lower than expected.

The government reported that 418,000 people filed for unemployment in the week ended July 2. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected a total of 425,000 jobless claims last week.

Separately, a report from payroll services firm ADP showed that employers in the private sector added 157,000 workers in June, far exceeding expectations.

The ADP was expected to show that employers in the private sector added 60,000 workers in June. The ADP revised its tally for May down to an additional 36,000 payrolls, after initially reporting a boost to payrolls by 38,000.

The most watched indicator of jobs growth comes Friday in the form of the government's monthly report for June. After weak jobs growth in May, economists and traders aren't expecting much better results from June's numbers.

Economists surveyed by CNNMoney are expecting the report to show 120,000 jobs added to payrolls. Typically, the economy needs to add about 150,000 just to keep pace with population growth.

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World markets: European stocks rose in midday trading. Britain's FTSE 100 and the DAX in Germany each surged 0.8% and France's CAC 40 gained 0.5%.

Asian markets ended mostly lower. The Shanghai Composite fell by 0.6%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong ended flat and Japan's Nikkei ticked down by 0.1%.

Currencies and commodities: The dollar rose against major international currencies, including the euro, the British pound and the Japanese yen.

Oil for August delivery gained $1.36 to trade at $98.01 a barrel.

Gold futures for August delivery dropped $2.30 to $1,526.40 an ounce.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury ticked lower, pushing the yield up to 3.11% from 3.09% late Wednesday.