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U.S. stocks: Futures hint at another day in red
LONDON (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock futures pointed lower on Thursday, with investors cautious of making any big moves ahead of jobless-claims data and factory orders later in the day.

Also in focus is the European Central Bank policy decision, due ahead of the market open. Adding to the caution, the closely watched U.S. monthly jobs report is due on Friday

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJZ4, -0.13% dropped 14 points, or 0.1%, to 16,725, while those for the S&P 500 index SPZ4, +0.10% gave up 0.90 point, or 0.1%, to 1,939.90. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index NDZ4, -0.04% lost 2.75 points, or 0.1%, to 3,979.75.

The weakness followed a sharp selloff on Wednesday, when all of the major benchmarks closed with losses of more than 1%.

The skittishness appeared to have stemmed from upbeat data on Wednesday. Although these pointed to positive momentum for the U.S. economy, they continued to fuel worries that the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates sooner than later.

Data: More readings out Thursday will be watched for clues about what the Fed might do. At 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time, jobless-claims data for last week are out, forecast to have risen to 298,000 from 293,000 the week before. Read: New U.S. jobless claims probably can’t go much lower

At 10 a.m. Eastern Time, the government is likely to report that factory orders fell by as much as 10% in August, though mainly because of a temporary dip in demand for new aircraft and autos.

Joao Monteiro, analyst at Valutrades, said in a note that the factory-order numbers will be under close scrutiny, “but some meaningful action from the ECB is probably what counts the most right now.”

The ECB announces its rate decision at 7:45 a.m. Eastern Time, followed by President Mario Draghi’s news conference at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-futures-hint-at-another-day-in-red-2014-10-02?dist=beforebell