(By Balachander) U.S. stock index futures pointed to lower open on the Wall Street as the Europe's leaders meet to address the region's debt woes.
Mini Dow Industrial Average futures shed 74.00 points to 12,479.00. The Nasdaq Futures dipped 12.25 points to 2,545.50. Standard and Poor's 500 futures edged 6.50 points lower to 1,319.00.
Concerns remain as to whether the two-day European summit will be able to stem the debt crisis in the eurozone.
On the US front, the economy grew at a 1.9 percent annualized rate in the first quarter, a report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis confirmed.
The number of Americans who continued to receive jobless benefits fell last week, a government data showed, though the numbers rose above expectations. Jobless claims dropped 6,000 to 386,000 in the week ending June 23 from the previous week's revised figure of 392,000, while economists projected a decline to 385,000.
On Wednesday, U.S. stocks ended in green amid upbeat domestic economic readings on home sales and durable-goods orders, ahead of the two-day EU summit that starts Thursday.
Hot Stocks Of The Day: JPM, FDO, PAYX, NWSA, RIMM, ONXX, RSH
In corporate news, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) retreated 3.37 percent in premarket. The financial services giant's credit-derivative trading loss may total as much as $9 billion, the New York Times reported.
Family Dollar Stores Inc. (NYSE: FDO) tumbled 7.42 percent after the operator of self-service retail discount stores posted quarterly earnings and the company continued to forecast gross margin pressure for 2012. Matthews, North Carolina-based FDO's sales for the third quarter trailed Wall Street expectations and its margins contracted.
Paychex Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) lost 1.22 percent in premarket after the New York-based payroll services provider posted lower-than-expected quarterly revenue and issued downbeat forecast for 2013.
News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWSA) inched higher in premarket amid reports the board approved a plan to split the media company.
Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ:RIMM), Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) and Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN) are due to release their quarterly earnings after the markets close.
Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ONXX) may be in spotlight after the U.S. health regulators granted a priority review to Bayer's New Drug Application (NDA) for new colorectal cancer drug. Bayer and Onyx will co-promote regorafenib in the U.S.
RadioShack Corp. (NYSE:RSH) shed 3.93 percent in premarket. According to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Scott Young resigned as Executive Vice President-Chief Merchandise Officer of the Fort Worth, Texas-based retailer of consumer electronic goods.
CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX) raised its earnings and revenue forecast for 2012. The Santa Ana, California-based provider of property and mortgage securities information now expects adjusted earnings per share in the range of $1.15 to $1.20 from prior view of $1.00 to $1.05 for the full year.
Global Markets:
European markets fell, with Germany's DAX down 1.46 percent to trade at 6,138.09. France's CAC40 dropped 0.57 percent to trade at 3,045.74. U.K.'s FTSE 100 tumbled 1.09 percent to trade at 5,463.46.
Among Asian markets, China's Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index dropped 0.95 percent to trade at 2,195.97. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.79 percent to close at 19,025.27. Japan's Nikkei 225 jumped 1.65 percent to end at 8,874.11. India's BSE Sensex finished at 16,990.76, up 0.14 percent.
Market Scan:
Ahead of the opening bell, crude oil futures added 0.32 percent to $80.470 per barrel. Gold futures fell 0.61 percent to $1,568.7 per ounce.
In the currency market, the euro traded 0.26 percent lower against the U.S. dollar at 1.2437, and the British pound slipped 0.15 percent against the greenback to 1.5545. The dollar retreated 0.39 percent against the Japanese yen at 79.4100.