Stock index futures signal losses; Intel eyed

(Reuters) - Stock index futures pointed to a lower opening on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.4 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.3 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.4 percent at 0939 GMT.

Intel Corp trimmed its forecast for 2011 personal computer unit sales, warning of softness in mature markets and sending its shares down more than 1 percent even as its revenue outlook beat estimates. The shares traded in Frankfurt were down 2.8 percent.

American Express Co posted a 31 percent increase in second-quarter profits, beating analysts' expectations, as customers spent more on their cards and the company's processing revenue jumped. The shares traded in Frankfurt were down 0.1 percent.

European stocks were down 0.6 percent in morning trade, led lower by tech stocks as investors ditched shares in mobile phone network equipment supplier Ericsson after it missed earnings forecasts, due to a hefty jobs cut charge, and forecast less profitable business in the pipeline in Europe.

Investors awaited the emergency euro zone summit in Brussels on Thursday to see if a new bailout deal can be forged for debt-stricken Greece. After seven hours of talks late into Wednesday night between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Berlin, the two leaders reached a common position on a second rescue package for Greece, that will be presented to the meeting. Details of the common position were not revealed.

A buyback of Greek debt is the only form of private sector involvement in the second bailout that has a chance of not triggering a downgrade of Greek sovereign debt to a 'selective default', a euro zone source said. Euro zone sources close to talks on Thursday on the second bailout said the buyback idea was one of the main options now under consideration.

On the earnings front, investors awaited results from companies including Morgan Stanley , Advanced Micro Devices Inc , Eli Lilly , Microsoft Corp , Pepsico Inc and AT&T .

On the macro side, the market awaited weekly jobless claims, as well as leading indicators.

Data showed on Thursday Chinese manufacturing contracted for the first time in a year in July and at its fastest pace since March 2009, as the country's monetary policy tightening and sluggish global demand weighed on the economy.

U.S. stocks closed near unchanged on Wednesday, a day after Wall Street's best rally since March, as the oncoming debt ceiling deadline overshadowed strong earnings from Apple Inc.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 15.51 points, or 0.12 percent, at 12,571.91. The S&P 500 Index shed 0.89 points, or 0.07 percent, at 1,325.84. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 12.29 points, or 0.43 percent, at 2,814.23.

(Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Greg Mahlich)