US stock futures dropped on Thursday after gloomy economic data spurred recession fears. Disappointing corporate forecasts also weighed heavily upon market sentiments.

At 9:00 am ET, Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in December fell 3.20 points to 850.30. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dropped 6 points to 8274. Nasdaq Composite Index futures shrank 10.75 points to 1152.75.

A release by Department of Labor on Thursday showed number of Americans filing first- time claims for unemployment benefits rose by 32,000 to 516,00 in the week ending Nov. 8. It is the highest level for jobless claims since September 2001. Economists had forecast jobless claims to fall by 8,000 to 477,000. The four-week average of seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims, a less volatile gauge, increased by 13,250 to 491,000.  Continuing claims for the week ending Nov. 1 rose to 3.89 million, their highest level since 1983.

According to Commerce Department, U.S. trade gap narrowed to $56.5 billion in September. Another release A separate release by RealtyTrac Inc on Thursday showed that foreclosure rate in October rose 25% year-over-year. A total of 84,868 homes were lost to foreclosure in October.

Early on Thursday, retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc.(NYSE: WMT) reported that its third quarter net income rose 9.8% to $3.14 billion, or 80 cents per share from $2.86 billion, or 70 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago. Earnings from continuing operations were 77 cents per share, beating the Wall Street estimates by a penny. Net sales grew 7.5% to $97.6 billion from $90.8 billion in the corresponding quarter of 2007.Wall Mart however lowered the profit guidance for full-year profit to $3.42 to $3.46 a share from an earlier forecast of profit range of $3.43 to $3.50 a share.

After the bell on Wednesday, the world's largest chipmaker, Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) said that it expects fourth quarter revenue  to be $9 billion, "plus or minus $300 million," down almost 14% or over $1 billion from the previous estimate in the range of $10.1 billion and $10.9 billion. In a statement the company said its "revenue is being affected by significantly weaker than expected demand in all geographies and market segments." Shares of Intel Corp. fell over 6% in European trade.

Late on Wednesday, NetApp Inc.(NASDAQ: NTAP) reported that its second quarter net income dropped to $49.2 million, or 15 cents a share, from $83.8 million, or 23 cents a share in the same quarter last year.Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) said that its profit fell 45% to $231 million, or 17 cents from $422 million, or 30 cents a share in the same quarter in 2007.

Meanwhile, Germany entered recession for the first time since 2003 as a release on Thursday showed that its economy shrank in the third quarter.  The Federal Statistics Office said German GDP contracted by 0.5% in the third quarter, following an upwardly-revised 0.4% contraction in the second quarter.

Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said on Thursday that developed countries are now in recession and face a "protracted" downturn, with the US, Japanese and eurozone economies likely to contract next year.

According to the British Bankers' Association, the London interbank offered rate, or LIBOR for three month loan climbed 2 basis points to 2.15%. The overnight rate rose 2 basis points to 0.40%.

European stocks were mostly lower in afternoon trade. At 13:06 pm London time, U.K. FTSE fell 48.06 points or 1.15% to 4,133.95. The German DAX dropped 0.01% while French CAC climbed 0.33%.

Asian stocks plummeted on Thursday. The Nikkei 225 fell 456.87 points or 5.25% to 8,238.64. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 717.74 points or 5.15% to 13,221.35.

NYMEX Crude oil for December delivery contract dropped as much as $1.49, or 2.7%, to $54.67 a barrel.

Disclosure: Author does not own any of the stocks discussed here.