OREANDA-NEWS. November 11, 2011. US stocks inched up with Oil & Gas (+1.82%) and Healthcare (+1.34%) as the leaders. S&P 500 index added 0.86%, Russell 2000 Index was up by 0.92%. VIX declined by 9.26% to 32.81.

Initial jobless claims fell to 390K vs consensus forecast of 400K.

Of 426 companies reported, 311 topped analysts’ expectations in terms of EPS so far in the US. In Europe beat to trail ratio was 135:122.

Asian indices mostly rose on Friday. Shanghai stock indices added on average 0.6%. S&P/ASX 200 rose by 1.23%. Korean Kospi added 2.77%, Hang Seng  - was up by 0.95%. Japanese Nikkei inched up by 0.16%.

The University of Michigan Consumer Confidence Index will be in focus in the US today.

1 S&P 500 company is to present quarterly earnings reports.