(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stock futures pointed to a lower open on Thursday on worse than expected weekly jobless claims data.
At 8:32 am ET,
Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures fell 4 points to 894.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures shed 36 points to 8220.
Nasdaq Composite Index futures retreated 6.50 points to 1440.75.
A release by
Commerce Department showed that U.S. economy shrank 5.5% pace in the first quarter, compared to preliminary estimate of 5.7%.
A release by
Department of Labor on Thursday showed number of Americans filing first- time claims for unemployment benefits climbed 15,000 to 627,00 in the week ending June 20. Economists expected jobless claims to drop to 600,000. The four-week average of seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims, a less volatile gauge, increased 7,000 to 612,250. Continuing claims for the week ending June 13 rose 29,000 to 6.7 million.
Pfizer Inc. (
NYSE: PFE) announced on Thursday that a Phase III clinical trial of its oncology drug Sutent showed the product was effective in delaying the progression of a certain type of pancreatic cancer known as pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.
Late on Wednesday, athletic shoe and apparel maker
Nike Inc. (
NYSE: NKE) reported that its fourth quarter net income declined 30% to $341.4 million or $0.70 per share, compared to $490.5 million or 98 cents a share, for the prior year quarter. Quarterly revenue fell 7% to $4.71 billion from $5.09 billion in the same period last year.
Early on Thursday,
homebuilder Lennar Corp. (
NYSE: LEN) announced slightly wider fourth quarter loss of $125.2 million, or 76 cents a share, compared to a loss of $120.9 million, or 76 cents a share, in the year earlier quarter. Revenue plunged to $891.9 million from $1.13 billion.
ConAgra Foods (
NYSE: CAG) said that its fiscal fourth-quarter profit tumbled 13% to $174.7 million, or 39 cents a share, from $201.3 million, or 41 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue increased 8 percent to $3.3 billion.
European stocks retreated in afternoon trade. At 13:02 pm London time, the UK FTSE dropped 25.48 points or 0.59% to 4254.60. The German DAX and French CAC decreased 1.28% and 1.18% respectively.
Asian stocks finished higher. The Nikkei 225 jumped 40.71 points or 0.43% to end at 9,590.32. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong surged 382.88 points or 2.14% to 18,275.03.
NYMEX crude oil for August delivery declined as much as $1.18 or 1.7% to $68.06 a barrel in electronic trading.
Disclosure: Author does not own any of the stocks discussed here.
