IBT Staff Reporter

Stock index futures rose slightly on Thursday as investors remained positive following an overall strong earnings season and ahead of results from United Parcel Service Inc and McDonald's Corp .

The U.S. consumer will not drive a global economic recovery and the United States is still at risk from high unemployment and souring commercial real estate loans, said Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday.

The unemployment claims report compiled weekly will be released this morning at 10 a.m., showing the number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance for the first time for the week ending July 18.

Swiss drugmaker Roche gave a bullish forecast for the next two years on the back of its $47 billion acquisition of Genentech and said it would expand capacity for H1N1 flu drug Tamiflu.

Toyota Motor Corp will start talks to pull out of a California-based joint venture with General Motors , a Toyota executive said on Thursday.

World stocks rose close to the previous session's nine-month high and oil edged up on Thursday as forecast-beating earnings from major firms raised expectations for a global economic recovery. Swiss bank Credit Suisse's higher-than-expected second-quarter profits and drugmaker Roche's bullish two-year forecast followed solid reports in the United States from Apple and Starbucks on Wednesday.

Roche , the maker of the Tamiflu flu drug, posted a 29 percent drop in first-half net profit and missed forecasts, hit by financing costs related to its $47 billion acquisition of Genentech.

Hyundai Motor Co's quarterly profit jumped by nearly half to a record high thanks to a weaker won boosting offshore sales and government incentives at home, factors which should help it outperform rivals this year.

Asian stocks climbed to a 10-month high on Thursday led by energy shares, though some investors wondered if upward momentum from corporate earnings reports justified increasingly pricey valuations.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc has expanded its laptop selection by 40 percent and will be aggressive in pricing the computers and the accessories to go with them as the discount retailer looks to win sales from frugal back-to-school shoppers.

Roche , the maker of the Tamiflu flu drug, missed forecasts with a 29 percent drop in first-half net profit, hit by costs related to its $47 billion acquisition of Genentech.

Walt Disney chief Robert Iger said on Wednesday advertising will rapidly grow more sophisticated as media firms begin tracking consumer preferences and selling the data on to advertisers.

Amazon.com will pay about $928 million for booming online shoe retailer Zappos.com, expanding aggressively into the apparel arena with a well-known name after trying unsuccessfully to go it alone.

Verizon Wireless would be willing to make a compromise on roaming service agreements with smaller mobile operators, according to a letter it sent on Wednesday after pressure from U.S. lawmakers.

U.S. drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co on Wednesday said it will pay $2.4 billion to acquire Medarex Inc , a biotechnology company that has been helping it develop a promising treatment for melanoma since 2005.

Investors are looking for signs of a recovery in solar panel demand when manufacturers report earnings in the coming weeks, though panel prices are still falling fast and earnings may not see a meaningful improvement until 2010.

Wireless chip and technology supplier Qualcomm Inc issued a revenue target for the current quarter that was below Wall Street expectations, sending its shares down about 5 percent.

The Nasdaq rose on Wednesday for the 11th straight day, buoyed by solid profits from Apple Inc and Starbucks Corp , while disappointing bank results and declining energy shares weighed on the broader market.

The U.S. Department of Energy and Department of Agriculture announced on Wednesday an investment of up to $6.3 million to advance research for the use of plant feedstocks for production of biofuels.

Chrysler Group could again face the prospect of liquidation if legislation aimed at reversing its decision to terminate contracts with 789 dealers becomes law, a company executive said on Wednesday.

Microsoft Corp confirmed the released to release to manufacturing (RTM) of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

EBay Inc posted better-than-expected quarterly results after managing to slow a persistent deterioration in its main Web auctions and retail business, propelling its shares nearly 5 percent higher.

MoGo Talk is the world's first ultra-thin integrated Bluetooth headset and was unveiled on Wednesday for BlackBerry Curve and BlackBerry Javelin.

Hong Kong reported another thousand confirmed cases of H1N1 on Wednesday, two weeks after it reported its first 1000 H1N1 confirmed cases on July 7.

AMD on Wednesday said its new line of WHQL-certified ATI Catalyst graphics drivers for Windows 7 RTM are ready to for the final release and availability of the Microsoft's new operating system on October 22.

Working together to Support Increasingly Interconnected IT Infrastructures, the top networking technology Companies entered into an agreement deals. IBM announced the agreement of reseller and original equipment manufacturing (OEM) of switches and routers which will benefit all the Companies creating good relationship among them.

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Wednesday a broad healthcare overhaul was critical to an economic recovery and promised to push a reform package through Congress this year despite growing doubts about the plan, even among fellow Democrats.

The Nasdaq rose on Wednesday for the 11th straight day, buoyed by solid profits from Apple Inc and Starbucks Corp , while disappointing bank results and declining energy shares weighed on the broader market.

Amazon.com made an aggressive move to grab market share in shoes and apparel on Wednesday, announcing a deal to buy online shoe retailer Zappos.com Inc for $927.9 million, mostly in stock.