On tap for Thursday: May............>

US DATA PREVIEW: On tap for Thursday: May challenger layoff plans; weekly

jobless claims; Apr trade balance; non-farm productivity and unit labor costs;

Q1 Service Revenue; May Treasury STRIPS and Fed weekly securities holdings.

* "Based on the advance goods trade balance report for April," Nomura economists

said they "expect a slight widening of the trade gap to $50.3bn in April from

$50.0bn in March. The advance report indicates that nominal goods exports fell

sharply in the month, while goods imports also declined."

* "Based on the advance goods trade balance for April and assumptions for

services trade" Barclays forecast the "overall trade balance in April to widen

modestly to $-50.5bn. Our forecast is based on a 3.0% decline in exports of

goods and services and a 2.7% drop in goods and services imports."