US Stock Futures Down; Jobless Claims Data In Focus

US stock futures are lower this morning, ahead of jobless claims data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 26 points to 12,737.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 4.50 points to 1,337.70. Nasdaq 100 futures declined 2.50 points to 2,555.00.

US stocks closed lower on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 0.76% to 12,780.95, the S&P 500 index declining 0.54% to 1,343.23 and the Nasdaq 100 index dipping 0.55% to 2,915.83.

Data on jobless claims data and January housing starts will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will speak at a community banking event at 9 a.m. ET.

V.F. Corporation (NYSE: VFC) is estimated to post its Q4 EPS at $2.31 on revenue of $2.89 billion. General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) is projected to post its Q4 EPS at $0.41 on revenue of $38.21 billion. Duke Energy Corp (NYSE: DUK) is projected to post its Q4 earnings at $0.21 per share on revenue of $3.36 billion.

Apache Corporation (NYSE: APA) is expected to post its Q4 EPS at $2.87 on revenue of $4.29 billion. Hyatt Hotels Corp (NYSE: H) is projected to post its Q4 earnings at $0.13 per share on sales of $1 billion. Nordstrom Inc (NYSE: JWN) is projected to post its Q4 EPS at $1.10 on revenue of $3.17 billion.

Frontier Communications Company (NYSE: FTR) is expected to post its Q4 EPS at $0.05 on revenue of $1.27 billion. J.M. Smucker Company (The) (NYSE: SJM) is projected to post its Q3 EPS at $1.41 on revenue of $1.54 billion. Molson Coors Brewing Co (NYSE: TAP) is estimated to post its Q4 earnings at $0.70 per share on revenue of $934.4 million.

NetApp Inc (NASDAQ: NTAP) posted its fiscal third-quarter adjusted net income, excluding one-time items, of $0.58 per share, on revenue of $1.57 billion. However, analysts were expecting adjusted net income of $0.58 per share on revenue of $1.56 billion.

CBS Corp (NYSE: CBS) reported a 31% surge in its earnings in the fourth quarter.

Moody's Investors Service placed more than 100 financial firms across the world on review for possible downgrade.

European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index declined 0.56%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.61%, French CAC 40 index fell 0.42% and German DAX 30 index dropped 0.95%.

Asian markets ended lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average declining 0.24%, China's Shanghai Composite dropping 0.42% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 1.62%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index declined 0.41% and India's Sensex fell 0.27%.

Nymex crude-oil futures fell $0.55 to $101.25 a barrel in electronic trade.

The euro dropped 0.46% against the US dollar to trade at $1.3007. However, the dollar gained 0.47% versus the yen to trade at ¥78.7950.