(By Balachander) U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower opening on the Wall Street as weak economic data from Europe and Japan raised global growth worries. Investors look forward to a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday for any hints of further stimulus measures.
Mini Dow Industrial Average futures shed 36 points to 13,048. The Nasdaq futures dipped 9.75 points to 2,771.50. Standard and Poor's 500 futures fell 4.80 points to 1,402.40.
In global news, a report showed Eurozone economic sentiment dropped to a three-year low in August to 86.1, also coming in below economists forecast of 87.5. Japan's retail sales declined 0.8 percent in July, more than economists forecast for a drop of 0.1 percent, a release from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said.
On the U.S. economic front, the number of Americans who continued to receive jobless benefits remained unchanged for the week ended August 25, a government data showed. Jobless claims were 374,000 last week, while economists projected a decline to 370,000 applications.
Meanwhile, U.S. personal income rose 0.3 percent and personal spending increased 0.4 percent for July, a data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis showed and matched economists expectations. For June, income rose 0.3 percent and spending fell less than 0.1 percent.
On Wednesday, U.S. stocks ended slightly higher after a data showed the world's largest economy grew slightly better than initially estimated and investors awaited remarks by Bernanke. An upbeat housing report also boosted sentiment.
Hot Stocks Of The Day:P, CIEN, TIVO,KSS, JWN, OXM
In corporate news, Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE:P) jumped 15.28 percent in premarket after the Internet radio services company posted better-than-expected quarterly results and issued an upbeat forecast. Pandora reported breakeven earnings per share on a non-GAAP basis, versus market expectations of a loss of 3 cents a share for the second quarter.
Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ:CIEN) retreated 10.59 percent in premarket after the provider of networking services posted a wider-than-forecast quarterly loss and issued a downbeat revenue outlook, citing slower-than-expected roll-outs of new design wins.
TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ:TIVO) advanced 3.63 percent in premarket after the Alviso, California based provider of digital video recorders reported a narrower-than-forecast quarterly loss. Revenue rose 7 percent and beat expectations as technology revenue jumped 40 percent. Total subscriptions rose 41 percent.
Kohl's Corp. (NYSE:KSS) rose 1.34 percent in premarket after the operator of department stores said comparable store sales grew 3.4 percent and total sales increased 5.3 percent in August.
Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE:JWN) added 2.10 percent in premarket after the fashion specialty retailer announced a 21.0 percent jumpin monthly same-store sales. Total retail sales rose 25 percent for August.
DuPont (NYSE:DD) has agreed to sell its performance coatings business for $4.9 billion in cash to private equity firm Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG). Carlyle will assume $250 million of DuPont's unfunded pension liabilities.
Oxford Industries Inc. (NYSE:OXM) fell 5.07 percent in premarket after apparel company issued third-quarter earnings and revenue guidance that trailed Wall Street projections.
Global Markets:
European markets traded lower, with Germany's DAX down 0.67 percent to trade at 6,963.35. France's CAC40 lost 0.28 percent to trade at 3,404.21. U.K.'s FTSE 100 shed 0.16 percent to trade at 5,734.23.
Among Asian markets, China's Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index dipped 0.03 percent to finish at 2,052.58. Japan's Nikkei 225 declined 0.95 percent to end at 8,983.78. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 1.19 percent to end at 19,552.91. India's BSE Sensex closed at 17,541.64, up 0.29 percent.
Market Scan:
Ahead of the opening bell, crude oil futures inched up 0.01 percent to $95.50 per barrel. Gold futures edged 0.02 percent lower to $1,662.7 per ounce.
In the currency market, the euro rose 0.18 percent against the U.S. dollar to 1.2554, and the British pound added 0.19 percent to 1.5863. The dollar declined 0.24 percent against the Japanese yen to 78.5100.