Paint the Table

[Foxlette]

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- A batch of generally favorable earnings news is set to underpin stocks on Thursday ahead of a key speech from Federal Reserve head Alan Greenspan.

Providing additional fuel for the bulls was news that jobless claims fell unexpectedly in the latest week vs. an expected rise. Initial claims, in fact, declined by 15,000 to 376,000 vs. the expected 394,000 level.

March S&P 500 futures piled on 6.00 points, or 0.5 percent, and were trading 5.90 points above fair value, according to HL Camp & Co. And Nasdaq futures rallied 26.00 points, or 1.7 percent and were trading a comfortable 18.40 points above fair value.

Investors looking for clarity regarding Greenspan's stance on the U.S. economy following what was viewed as a murky and pessimistic speech on Jan. 11 will get a second chance Thursday. The Fed chair, in fact, is set to testify before the Senate Budget Committee at 10 a.m. See the preview story .

Lifting the wireless and chip sectors in the pre-open was Finland's Nokia (NYSE: NOK - news) , which presented a better-than-expected quarterly report. The stock was pounded earlier in the week following a downgrade. Shares rose around 8 percent in Europe.

Among other shares trading before the opening bell: Siebel Systems climbed to $37, Corning was a touch higher to $8.50 while Amgen fell to $57.54. All three companies unveiled their results late Wednesday.

Software company Siebel Systems (NasdaqNM: SEBL - news) checked in with fourth-quarter earnings that handily exceeded Wall Street's own estimates.

Fiber-optic outfit Corning (NYSE: GLW - news) posted a fourth-quarter loss from operations of 28 cents a share, a tad narrower than the already lowered First Call estimate.

And biotech giant Amgen (NasdaqNM: AMGN - news) reported a fourth-quarter profit from operations that was a touch lower than the Wall Street consensus estimate.

Treasurys await word from Greenspan
Bond prices coasted close to the unchanged mark ahead of Greenspan' key speech, which comes just days ahead of the FOMC meeting.

The 10-year Treasury note was up 1/32 to yield 5.02 percent while the 30-year government bond erased 2/32 to yield 5.475 percent.

In the currency sector, the dollar rose 0.3 percent to 132.91 yen while the euro was flat at 88.10 cents.