Futures sharply lower after Tokyo's Nikkei suffers worst loss since Sept. 11 attacks.
The sharpest decline in Tokyo's Nikkei index since the attacks that felled the World Trade Center could come back to snag U.S. stock markets when trading begins Thursday.
At 5:30 a.m. ET, futures pointed to a significantly lower open for the major indexes.
In part, the Nikkei's 5.1 percent skid was due to the sharp decline on Wall Street Wednesday as investors saw a bunch of less-than-stellar earnings and outlooks from the likes of Merck, J.P. Morgan Chase and Dupont. Added to the mess is Sony (SNE: Research, Estimates), which reported a decline in fiscal second-quarter earnings that showed weakness in PlayStation2 sales and movie and music revenue.
U.S. investors will await Microsoft's quarterly results Thursday as they sort through figures from other significant companies.
Microsoft (MSFT: Research, Estimates) posts its results after trading concludes Thursday, and followers of the world's largest software developer will be looking for signs of at least continued, if not substantial, earnings and sales growth. Analysts surveyed by First Call expect the company to report a fiscal second-quarter profit of 29 cents a share, up from 28 cents a year earlier.
Microsoft shares lost 46 cents to $28.89 Wednesday.
Before trading begins Thursday, a load of quarterly reports is scheduled to come in, among them toothpaste maker Colgate-Palmolive (CL: Research, Estimates), tire producer Goodyear (GT: Research, Estimates), targeted software developer PeopleSoft (PSFT: Research, Estimates) and media conglomerate Viacom (VIA.B: Research, Estimates).
After the close, investors will look for results from PC maker Gateway (GTW: Research, Estimates), fast food operator Wendy's International (WEN: Research, Estimates) and trucker Yellow (YELL: Research, Estimates).
This being Thursday, there's one economic indicator of note: the weekly report of initial jobless claims. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expect the number to bump up 1,000 to 385,000 for the week ended Oct. 18.
The Dow Jones industrial average and Nasdaq composite index are coming off a drubbing Wednesday related to disappointing earnings results and outlooks. The Dow lost 1.5 percent, while the Nasdaq sank 2.2 percent. European markets joined Asian stocks in pulling back Thursday.
Treasury prices rose in early trading, sending the 10-year note yield down to 4.22 percent from 4.25 percent late Wednesday. The dollar gained against the yen, but was slightly weaker versus the euro.
Brent oil futures slipped 6 cents to $28.22 a barrel in London, where gold rallied in early trading
The sharpest decline in Tokyo's Nikkei index since the attacks that felled the World Trade Center could come back to snag U.S. stock markets when trading begins Thursday.
At 5:30 a.m. ET, futures pointed to a significantly lower open for the major indexes.
In part, the Nikkei's 5.1 percent skid was due to the sharp decline on Wall Street Wednesday as investors saw a bunch of less-than-stellar earnings and outlooks from the likes of Merck, J.P. Morgan Chase and Dupont. Added to the mess is Sony (SNE: Research, Estimates), which reported a decline in fiscal second-quarter earnings that showed weakness in PlayStation2 sales and movie and music revenue.
U.S. investors will await Microsoft's quarterly results Thursday as they sort through figures from other significant companies.
Microsoft (MSFT: Research, Estimates) posts its results after trading concludes Thursday, and followers of the world's largest software developer will be looking for signs of at least continued, if not substantial, earnings and sales growth. Analysts surveyed by First Call expect the company to report a fiscal second-quarter profit of 29 cents a share, up from 28 cents a year earlier.
Microsoft shares lost 46 cents to $28.89 Wednesday.
Before trading begins Thursday, a load of quarterly reports is scheduled to come in, among them toothpaste maker Colgate-Palmolive (CL: Research, Estimates), tire producer Goodyear (GT: Research, Estimates), targeted software developer PeopleSoft (PSFT: Research, Estimates) and media conglomerate Viacom (VIA.B: Research, Estimates).
After the close, investors will look for results from PC maker Gateway (GTW: Research, Estimates), fast food operator Wendy's International (WEN: Research, Estimates) and trucker Yellow (YELL: Research, Estimates).
This being Thursday, there's one economic indicator of note: the weekly report of initial jobless claims. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expect the number to bump up 1,000 to 385,000 for the week ended Oct. 18.
The Dow Jones industrial average and Nasdaq composite index are coming off a drubbing Wednesday related to disappointing earnings results and outlooks. The Dow lost 1.5 percent, while the Nasdaq sank 2.2 percent. European markets joined Asian stocks in pulling back Thursday.
Treasury prices rose in early trading, sending the 10-year note yield down to 4.22 percent from 4.25 percent late Wednesday. The dollar gained against the yen, but was slightly weaker versus the euro.
Brent oil futures slipped 6 cents to $28.22 a barrel in London, where gold rallied in early trading
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