Investors likely to pull back at the open after uninspiring earnings from Yahoo!, weak jobs data.

Stocks headed for a lower open Thursday, after earnings news from Yahoo! and a weak weekly jobless claims reading caused some concern among investors who waited nervously for other quarterly corporate reports.

Just after 8:35 a.m. ET, futures pointed to a lower start for stocks, particularly for the tech-laden Nasdaq market.

Yahoo!'s results are "going to drag on the Nasdaq today," one trader at a London-based bank told Reuters.

Yahoo!, the Internet portal operator, posted second-quarter earnings of 8 cents a share, up from 3 cents a year earlier and matching the consensus of analysts surveyed by First Call. Sales were up 42 percent and were slightly above forecasts.

But the earnings didn't beat estimates, and that along with Yahoo!'s weakness in fee-based revenue left the company's shares down 5 percent among U.S. stocks trading in Europe.

Investors have their sights focused on corporate fiscal results, with this being the first big reporting week for the second quarter. Investors have bought into stocks in the first half of the year, causing big spikes on the major indexes, in the hope an economic recovery will emerge in the second half.

But, many were optimistic that Yahoo! would surpass estimates for the second quarter, and the fact that they were in-line put a damper on some investor enthusiasm.

Soft drink maker PepsiCo (PEP: Research, Estimates) also posted earnings that met expectations, and rose 19 percent from the same quarter last year, and repeated guidance for the full year.

Drugmaker Abbott Labs (ABT: Research, Estimates) also said its earnings came in-line with Wall Street expectations.

Meanwhile, the morning's main economic report on jobless claims was less than encouraging. Initial jobless claims for the week of July 5 rose to 439,000 from 430,000 in the previous week. Economist had expected a decline to 420,000 claims. Any reading above 400,000 signals weakness in the economy, and weekly claims have been above this level since mid-February.

Also scheduled Thursday are the individual June chain-store sales reports. Walt-Mart (WMT: Research, Estimates) said its same store sales rose 2.7 percent for the month, while Kohl's (KSS: Research, Estimates) said its sales at stores open at least a year slid 2.4 percent.

Investors also considered a surprise cut in interest rates by the Bank of England Thursday and awaited a decision by the European Central Bank as to whether is would make any changes to its interest rates.

The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 0.7 percent Wednesday led by weakness in tobacco marketer Altria (MO: Research, Estimates). The Nasdaq composite index was up for the third straight day, adding just a point. (see chart for details)

Asian-Pacific stocks ended mostly lower Thursday, with Tokyo's Nikkei index down 0.4 percent. European markets slipped in midday trading. (Check the latest on world markets)

Treasury prices rose, sending the 10-year note yield down to 3.67 percent from 3.69 percent late Wednesday. The dollar moved higher against the euro but slipped versus the yen.

Brent oil futures pulled back 6 cents to $28.59 a barrel in London, where gold gained in early trading.