MARKET SNAPSHOT: U.S. Stocks: Futures Up As S&P 500 Nears A Record

By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch

MADRID (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures moved north on Thursday, as neither downbeat Chinese data nor a perceived hawkish set of Federal Reserve minutes swayed upbeat sentiment.

Friday's speech from Janet Yellen remains a market focus, and the S&P 500 is within spitting distance of setting a fresh record close.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJU4) rose 33 points to 16,982, while those for the S&P 500 index (SPU4) added 2.9 points to 1,986.20. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index (NDU4) rose 3.75 points to 4,043.25.

Weekly jobless claims are coming at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. A trio of data is due at 10 a.m. Eastern Time, the most closely watched of which may be existing-home sales for July, which economists expect to hold steady. Also out at that time: the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey for August and leading indicators for July.

With time to mull it over, investors appeared to further shrug off the Fed minutes released Wednesday that showed some officials arguing the groundwork should be laid for raising interest rates sooner than expected. A Thursday report showing a three-month low for Chinese factory data was also brushed aside.

Brenda Kelly, chief market strategist at IG Markets, said the Fed minutes mostly revealed officials had debated whether to raise rates sooner than expected. "It's still unlikely that it's going to be immediate and remains data dependent," she said in emailed comments.

Wall Street closed modestly higher on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 index (SPX) gaining less than 0.3% to end at 1,986.51. The index logged its third straight day of gains and now sits just 0.07% off its record close of 1,987.98, hit July 24, though some say record closes are a commonplace occurrence. Also read: "All-time high" is the "we should talk" of the stock market.

Delusional investors? Kelly and other strategists said not much will hold markets' attention ahead of Friday's speech from Fed Chairwoman Yellen at Jackson Hole, Wyo. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi will speak the same day.

"Markets are making hay while the sun shines -- possibly in a delusional manner based on previous equity moves in the runup and aftermath of the Jackson Hole symposium. Yellen, however, is not Bernanke, and she may offer some surprises," said Kelly.

Individual stocks: Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) fell 5% after posting a large loss and margins shrank.

Dollar Tree Inc. (DLTR) also reported premarket, but share were nearly flat. The company was outbid in its offer for Family Dollar Stores Inc. (FDO) by Dollar General Corp. (DG) last week. Also see Dollar General says Family Dollar CEO rejected merger to save his job

Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) rose modestly after the technology company's third-quarter profit fell, but beat forecasts late Wednesday. Retailer Gap Inc. (GPS) will hug the spotlight after the closing bell. What to look for

Follow the day's notable stock moves here.

Other markets: The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.5% as investors pushed aside a mixed bag of purchasing managers indexes and looked to recent market weakness as a buying opportunity. The China data wasn't overlooked in Hong Kong, where the Hang Seng index snapped a four-session winning streak. Elsewhere, gold(GCZ4) was down more than 1%, continuing to lose ground after the Fed minutes.

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