Wall Street set to open higher on risk appetite

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were poised for a sharply higher open on Thursday as more monetary stimulus from the U.S. Federal Reserve aimed at boosting the ailing economy fueled investor risk appetite.

New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week, underlining persistent weakness in the labor market, but investors shrugged off the weak numbers.

The Fed plan to buy $600 billion in Treasuries, announced on Wednesday, was more than anticipated but less than what many economists wanted.

Mining stocks were among the biggest gainers in the European market, with metal prices driven by a weaker U.S. dollar after the Fed announcement. The dollar fell nearly 1 percent against a basket of major currencies <.DXY>.

Financial stocks were also in focus as the two-year yield curve dipped to a record low as investors predicted the fresh round of quantitative easing would stoke future inflation.

"Generally the steeper the yield curve, the better it is for bank profitability and therefore helps the overall economy. The steepness of the yield curve would be considered a positive by the Fed," said Zach Pandl, economist at Nomura Securities International in New York.

U.S.-listed shares of BHP were up 5.6 percent at $78.13 in premarket trade after the Canadian government blocked its $39 billion bid for Potash Corp of Saskatchewan Inc . New York-traded shares of Potash fell 4.5 percent to $139.00 premarket.

U.S.-listed shares of Unilever Plc jumped 6.7 percent to $31.32 premarket after it matched forecasts with a rise in third-quarter sales.

S&P 500 futures rose 10.2 points to 1,207.50 and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. The futures were above 1,200 for the first time since early May.

Dow Jones industrial average futures gained 88 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 19.75 points.

Both the Dow <.DJI> and Nasdaq <.IXIC> closed at levels not seen since 2008 on Wednesday, while the S&P 500 <.SPX> ended at a six-month high.

On Thursday, MSCI's all-country world stocks index rose 1.2 percent to two-year highs and reached levels just before the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

U.S. retailers, including wholesale club Costco Wholesale Corp and teen apparel chain Zumiez Inc , reported October same-store sales that beat expectations as unique merchandise and cheap prices still drew buyers in a slow U.S. recovery.

Based on reports from 12 out of 28 retailers tracked by Thomson Reuters, six chains reported higher-than-expected same-store sales. Analysts looked for a total increase of 1.6 percent.

Kraft Foods Inc , North America's largest packaged food maker, is due to report quarterly results less than two months after it said it hopes to add $1 billion in additional revenue by 2013 after its purchase of Britain's Cadbury.

(Reporting by Angela Moon; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

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