Investing.com – U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open on Thursday as market sentiment was weighed by disappointing data on initial jobless claims, while shares of Berkshire Hathaway sank following the unexpected resignation of a high-profile executive.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed a loss of 0.1%, the S&P 500 futures indicated a decline of 0.2%, while Nasdaq 100 futures shed 0.15%.
Earlier in the day, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of people claiming initial jobless benefits last week dropped to 388K, falling short of expectations for a decline to 380K.
Meanwhile, Berkshire Hathaway saw shares drop 4% after David Sokol, who was viewed by many as heir-apparent to Warren Buffet, resigned after it was revealed that he bought shares in chemical company Lubrizol before pushing Buffet to buy the company.
The second largest U.S. fertilizer producer Mosaic dipped 1.2% after it said third quarter revenue totaled USD2.21 billion, below expectations for revenue of USD2.3 billion.
Elsewhere, casino operator Las Vegas Sands saw shares tumble 4.1% after the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission said it began investing the Macau unit of the casino operator for alleged regulatory breaches.
Other stocks in focus include media conglomerate News Corp, which promoted James Murdoch to deputy chief operating officer in a move that could mark him as eventual successor to his 80-year-old father, Rupert.
Also Thursday, Microsoft edged up 0.3% after saying in a blog post late Wednesday that it is filing a formal complaint against Google with the European Commission as part of the Commission's investigation into Google's dominance in online search. Shares of Google rose 0.2%.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were broadly lower as shares in the financial sector led losses ahead of the results of the Irish banks’ stress tests. The EURO STOXX 50 fell 0.5%, France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.4%, Germany's DAX eased down 0.05%, while Britain's FTSE 100 dipped 0.2%.
During the Asian trading session, Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index closed 0.48% higher as exporters performed strongly, boosted by the outlook for export earnings.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish a government report on factory orders as well as industry data on manufacturing activity in the Chicago-area.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed a loss of 0.1%, the S&P 500 futures indicated a decline of 0.2%, while Nasdaq 100 futures shed 0.15%.
Earlier in the day, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of people claiming initial jobless benefits last week dropped to 388K, falling short of expectations for a decline to 380K.
Meanwhile, Berkshire Hathaway saw shares drop 4% after David Sokol, who was viewed by many as heir-apparent to Warren Buffet, resigned after it was revealed that he bought shares in chemical company Lubrizol before pushing Buffet to buy the company.
The second largest U.S. fertilizer producer Mosaic dipped 1.2% after it said third quarter revenue totaled USD2.21 billion, below expectations for revenue of USD2.3 billion.
Elsewhere, casino operator Las Vegas Sands saw shares tumble 4.1% after the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission said it began investing the Macau unit of the casino operator for alleged regulatory breaches.
Other stocks in focus include media conglomerate News Corp, which promoted James Murdoch to deputy chief operating officer in a move that could mark him as eventual successor to his 80-year-old father, Rupert.
Also Thursday, Microsoft edged up 0.3% after saying in a blog post late Wednesday that it is filing a formal complaint against Google with the European Commission as part of the Commission's investigation into Google's dominance in online search. Shares of Google rose 0.2%.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were broadly lower as shares in the financial sector led losses ahead of the results of the Irish banks’ stress tests. The EURO STOXX 50 fell 0.5%, France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.4%, Germany's DAX eased down 0.05%, while Britain's FTSE 100 dipped 0.2%.
During the Asian trading session, Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index closed 0.48% higher as exporters performed strongly, boosted by the outlook for export earnings.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish a government report on factory orders as well as industry data on manufacturing activity in the Chicago-area.