1. U.S. stocks indexes moved higher on Thursday morning, boosted by strong results from Facebook (O:FB) and as financial stocks rose on the possibility of a rate hike next month.
Facebook shares rose 5.3 percent to a record high of $109.44 after the company's quarterly results beat estimates. The stock gave the biggest boost to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.
2. Oil prices extended losses from the prior session on Thursday, as the ongoing glut in global supplies continued to weigh on the commodity.
Crude oil for delivery in December on the New York Mercantile Exchange shed 29 cents, or 0.63%, to trade at $46.04 a barrel during U.S. morning hours.
3. New U.S. applications for unemployment benefits last week recorded their largest increase in eight months, but remained at levels consistent with a fairly healthy labor market.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 16,000 to a seasonally adjusted 276,000 for the week ended Oct. 24, the Labor Department said on Thursday. It was the largest weekly gain since late February.
4. The pound extended losses on Thursday, falling more than 1% against the dollar after a dovish Bank of England quarterly inflation report signaled that interest rates are likely to remain on hold for an extended period.
GBP/USD was last down 1.04% to 1.5225, the weakest since October 13 from around 1.5389 earlier.
5. U.S. nonfarm productivity unexpectedly rose in the third quarter as a decline in self-employed workers contributed to overall hours worked falling for the first time in six years, restraining labor-related production costs.
The Labor Department said on Thursday that productivity, which measures hourly output per worker, increased at a 1.6 percent annual rate after increasing at an upwardly revised 3.5 percent rate in the second quarter.
6. The U.S. dollar rose against its Canadian counterpart on Thursday, as expectations for a December rate hike in the U.S. continued to support despite the release of disappointing U.S. jobless claims data.
USD/CAD hit 1.3181 during early U.S. trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3175, adding 0.20%.
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