Flat start seen for stocks

U.S. stocks were headed for a flat open Thursday, as investors expressed caution after pushing the Dow Jones industrial average to a 15-month high.

Dow, Nasdaq-100 and S&P-500 futures were little changed. Mild gains in futures were erased following disappointing results from economic reports.

Futures measure current index values against their perceived future performance and offer an indication of how markets may open when trading begins.

Peter Cardillo, chief market economist for Avalon Partners, said the December retail sales report would set the tone for the day's trading.

"I think the real focus will be on whatever the consumer is doing post-holiday season," he said, before the release of the report.

Investors will also focus on the weekly jobless claims report and corporate earnings, said Cardillo.

The blue-chip Dow closed at its highest point since Oct. 1, 2008 on Wednesday, as investors bounced back from a one-day selloff.

Economy: Retail sales dropped 0.3% in December, according to the Census Bureau, which was much worse than expected.

Sales were expected to have risen 0.5% in December, according to a consensus of economist expectations from Briefing.com. That would compare to the upwardly revised gain of 1.8% in the prior month.

The Labor Department reported that weekly jobless claims rose more than expected. Initial jobless claims jumped to 444,000 in the week ended Jan. 9. That's more than the expected increase to 436,000, according to Briefing.com consensus.
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Banks: A panel investigating the financial crisis holds a second day of hearings in Washington. On Wednesday, four top bank chief executives told the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission that they had made mistakes but that they didn't realize the error of their ways ahead of the financial crisis of 2008.

Earnings: Chipmaker Intel (INTC, Fortune 500) is slated to post its quarterly financial results after the closing bell.

The company is expected to report a surge in fourth-quarter earnings to 30 cents per share from year-earlier income of 4 cents, according to a consensus of analyst opinion from Thomson Reuters.

World markets: A rally in Asia lifted the Nikkei 1.6%. Major European indexes also rose slightly in midday trading.

Cash and bonds: The dollar rose was mixed against major international currencies, rising against the euro and the yen, but falling versus the pound. The price of the 10-year note rose, lowering the yield to 3.76%.

Oil and gold: The price of oil edged up 27 cents to $79.92 a barrel. The price of gold rose $2.10 cents an ounce to $1,138.90.