US STOCKS-Futures signal gains after string of losses

   By Ryan Vlastelica   
    NEW YORK, May 10 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures
pointed to opening gains on Thursday as investors sought
bargains after a string of losing sessions.   
    Premarket trading was choppy, with index futures moving
between negative and flat early in the session before rebounding
alongside European shares.    
    Concerns over Europe's sovereign debt crisis helped to spark
declines in the S&P 500 for five of the past six sessions. Early
Thursday, European shares shrugged off losses to rise
0.5 percent.    
    "We've seen buyers come in at the 1,350 level (on the S&P)
for the past few sessions, so there's no doubt sellers are tired
now," said Wayne Kaufman, chief market analyst at John Thomas
Financial in New York.    
    "We were very oversold, and selling is done at least in the
short term. The question is whether we'll see a catalyst for
real buying from here."   
    New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits edged down last
week, the government said, and could ease concerns the labor
market was deteriorating after April's weak employment growth.
    
    S&P 500 futures rose 9.2 points and were above fair
value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account
interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the
contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 56
points, and Nasdaq 100 futures added 9.75 points.   
    The Dow has fallen for six straight days, while the S&P
rebounded from a two-month low on Wednesday, suggesting
investors may use the index's two-day drop of more than 1
percent as a buying opportunity.   
    Shares of Cisco Systems Inc will be active a day
after the network equipment maker issued a weak profit forecast
on concerns about global technology spending. The stock fell 7.3
percent to $17.40 in premarket trading.    
    News Corp reported adjusted earnings that beat
expectations late Wednesday and announced another $5 billion in
stock buybacks.    
    With 441 of the S&P 500 companies reporting results through
Wednesday morning, 66.7 percent exceeded estimates, according to
Thomson Reuters data, versus more than 80 percent at the start
of earnings season.   
    Shares of Avon Products Inc climbed 3.1 percent to
$22.28 premarket after Coty US Inc raised its buyout
bid by $1.50 per share to $24.75.    
    Despite market gains, caution prevailed on questions over
how the Greek political deadlock would affect the debt crisis.
On Wednesday, equities came back from sharp declines after
officials agreed to make a 4.2 billion euro bailout payment to
Greece.    
    In another troubling sign from abroad, China's annual growth
in imports in April was just 0.3 percent, far below forecasts of
an 11 percent increase. Exports managed to grow just 4.9 percent
versus expectations of 8.5 percent, data showed.    
    Investors stayed focused on the turmoil in Europe on
Wednesday, sparking another down day, but a deal for another
Greek bailout payment helped cut losses late in the session.