Stocks are indicated modestly lower following a round of mixed earnings news Thursday. Thirty minutes before the opening bell, stock index futures indicate that the Dow Jones Industrial Average might lose 20 or 25 points at the open.

Dow component Wal-Mart (WMT) is up .7 percent after the world’s largest retailer reported a quarterly profit of 84 cents, which beat Street estimates by 3 cents. Revenues fell a bit shy of analyst estimates, however, and Wal-Mart offered in-line guidance for the fourth quarter.

Kohl’s (KSS) added 1.4 percent after a 63 cent per share quarterly profit, which topped Street estimates by 2 cents. Applied Materials (AMAT) is down 1.9 percent after reporting better than expected third quarter earnings and revenues, but then offered only in-line guidance for the fiscal year.

HP (HPQ) is also in focus after announcing plans to acquire 3Com (COMS) for $7.9 per share, and a 39 percent premium to Wednesday’s closing price. HP also reported better-than-expected fourth quarter numbers and raised its outlook for 2010. HPQ is down 1.1 percent. COMS rallied 31.8 percent and Brocade (BRCD), which was also considered to be on HP’s shopping list, is down 12.9 percent.

AMD is up 24 percent after settling legal disputes with Intel (INTC). Dow component Disney (DIS) reports after the closing bell.

On the economic front, the latest weekly jobless claims showed some improvement. According to the Labor Department, filings fell by 12,000 to 502,000 in the week ended November 7. Economists were looking for a smaller 4,000 drop.

Bonds are flat despite the better than expected claims numbers. The benchmark ten-year Treasury is up 1/32nd and yields 3.477 percent.

The dollar is up. The buck gained .32 to 90.16 against the yen. The euro gave back .0045 to 1.4932 against the US currency.

Dollar strength is weighing on crude and gold. Crude is off 89 cents to $78.39 ahead of weekly inventory data due out at 11:00 a.m. eastern time. Gold is unchanged at $1114.60 an ounce.