* Jobless claims, CPI, housing data on tap
* Fed concerned euro crisis spillover to US banks-report
* Futures off: Dow 203 pts, S&P 24.9 pts, Nasdaq 49 pts
* For up-to-the-minute market news see [STXNEWS/US]
NEW YORK, Aug 18 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures sank on Thursday as a report that regulators were looking at the U.S. units of European banks shook up investors ahead of data on jobless claims and consumer prices.
Concerned about the European debt crisis, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has asked for more information about whether the banks have reliable access to funds needed to operate in the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported. For details, see [ID:nL5E7JI0Q]
The market held on to the view that European policymakers were not doing enough to tackle the euro zone's debt crisis. European blue chips <.FTEU3> were down 3 percent, with banks <.SX7P> among the biggest losers. [ID:nL6E7HL0JK]
"Investors are realizing as each day passes that systemic risk is here to stay," said Andre Bakhos, director of market analytics at Lek Securities in New York.
The select sector SPDR financial ETF
S&P 500 futures
Concern about the outlook for the global economy was underscored by a Morgan Stanley note on Wednesday cutting its 2011 and 2012 global gross domestic product estimates. [ID:nL3E7JI1LM]
"These headlines are a jack-in-the-box. You know they're there, but they scare you anyway," Bakhos said.
Investors braced for a raft of economic data, including weekly jobless claims, the consumer price index (CPI), existing home sales and the Philadelphia Fed's business activity index.
Data on first-time applications for unemployment insurance was due at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT). Economists forecast a total of 400,000 filings, compared with 395,000 in the prior week.
July's CPI, also due at 8:30 a.m., was seen rising 0.2 percent, compared with a drop of 0.2 percent in June. Excluding food and energy items, CPI is expected to be up by 0.2 percent, compared with a June rise of 0.3 percent.
Shares of NetApp Inc
Hewlett-Packard Co
Technology shares fell on Wednesday after Dell Inc's