Corporate profits lift stock futures

NEW YORK (AP) — Stock futures are holding onto modest gains after a disappointing report on monthly retail sales.

Investors are ready to send the market higher again today after chipmaker Intel became the latest company to report strong earnings and a positive outlook for growth. The Dow Jones industrial average is set to extend a six-day rally.

The Commerce Department says retail sales fell 0.5 percent last month, worse than the 0.2 percent economists had forecast. Excluding autos, sales fell in line with expectations.

Dow Jones industrial average futures are up 29, or 0.3 percent, at 10,317. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures are up 2.90, or 0.3 percent, at 1,092.60, while Nasdaq 100 index futures are up 11.25, or 0.6 percent, at 1,853.75.