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Empresas y finanzas

Stock index futures signal mixed open


    NEW YORK, (Reuters) - Stock index futures pointed to a flat to slightly higher open for Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the Dow Jones up 0.2 percent, S&P 500 up 0.15 percent and Nasdaq down 0.03 percent at 0918 GMT.

    * In Europe, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was up 0.4 percent at 1,043.67 points, rebounding from earlier falls following a successful sale of Spanish government bonds which calmed nerves over euro zone debt troubles.

    * France backs publication of bank "stress test" results to dispel financial market suspicion over the solidity of the banking system in the face of the debt crisis, the country's economy minister said on Thursday.

    * Stocks on Wall Street finished flat on Wednesday after cautious comments from FedEx and weak housing market data overshadowed a surge in industrial production.

    * Focus is likely to be on economic data including consumer price index (CPI) numbers at 1230 GMT. Economists in a Reuters survey expect a 0.2 percent drop, after a 0.1 percent decline in April.

    * Other data include U.S. Q1 current account figures and weekly jobless claims numbers at 1230 GMT, leading indicators for May at 1400 GMT and the Philadelphia Fed business index for June at 1530 GMT.

    * BP chief executive Tony Hayward faces the wrath of U.S. lawmakers on Thursday, while a government official is set to criticize the rules of Washington's probe into the Gulf of Mexico oil spill as "backward."

    BP stock was up 8.1 percent in London on Thursday, having risen 1.5 percent on Wall Street in the previous day.

    * Switzerland's parliament backed a Swiss-U.S. tax treaty crucial to the future of UBS , laying to rest months of uncertainty over the deal and paving the way for renewed recovery at the Swiss bank.

    * Duke Realty Corp shares fell 5.3 percent to $11.83 in extended trade on Wednesday after the company said it will offer 23 million shares in a public offering to fund the purchase of its joint venture partner's stake in Dugan Realty.

    * Among companies set to report quarterly earnings are grocery chain Kroger Co and food and beverage firm J.M. Smucker Co

    * In a big victory for the U.S. Federal Reserve, lawmakers hammering out a final version of a Wall Street reform bill on Wednesday agreed to drop two provisions the Fed had said would subject its economic decision-making to outside political influence.

    (Reporting by Harpreet Bhal; Editing by Dan Lalor)