Stock futures were trading in a narrow range Thursday as investors avoid making major predictions before reports on inflation and weekly jobless claims. Overseas markets mostly rose. Major indexes rose the past two days as investors turned their attention to domestic earnings and economic reports that showed the economy is improving. The Dow Jones industrial average has risen more than 200 points so far in this holiday-shortened trading week. Economists expect newly laid off workers seeking unemployment benefits fell modestly last week to 430,000, from 440,000 a week earlier, according to Thomson Reuters. High unemployment has been one of the biggest obstacles to a strong, sustained economic recovery. The Labor Department releases its weekly jobless claims report at 8:30 a.m. EST. The department, at the same time, will also release a report on __
