Market Update
Stock index futures in the United States edged lower early Thursday, as global markets gave up some early gains to trade mixed, as investors brace for another round of economic and earnings data releases.
At the time of writing, S&P 500 futures declined 7 points to 1247 while Nasdaq futures were off 12 points to 2290.
Stocks opened mostly positive globally, tracking a firm close for U.S. stocks Wednesday, but earnings from regional heavyweight bogged down sentiment. The Japanese market, however, closed slightly higher after the central bank intervened in the forex market to curb the yen's relentless strength seen recently.
In Europe, Lloyds fell 4.2% while Inmarsat Plc tumbled over 22% following their quarterly results.
On tap on the economic calendar, the weekly jobless claims data is scheduled to be released at 08:30 a.m. (Eastern Time). Initial claims are expected to rise to 405,000 from 398,000 last week, according to a poll of economists.
In earnings, General Motors (GM), CVS Caremark (CVS), Kraft (KFT) and St Joe (JOE), among others, are slated to post quarterly results.
In corporate news, Kraft announced it was breaking up into two companies. Shares in the firm rose 2.7% in the pre-market trading.