Stock futures point to slight losses at the open

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures pointed to slight losses at the open on Thursday, tracking a retreat in overseas markets as investors looked to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech Friday at a symposium of central bankers for fresh trading incentives.

Jobless claims were unchanged in the latest week, dashing hopes for a slight tick lower. Futures didn't move on the data, indicating that the market's focus remains on Bernanke's address in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where he could announce new measures to boost growth.

Bernanke is expected to stoke expectations for a third round of quantitative easing, though he may not detail the timing of the Fed's action.

European shares <.FTEU3> fell 0.3 percent with investors reluctant to increase their exposure to riskier assets ahead of the Fed meeting. Japanese stocks <.N225> fell almost 1 percent to a two-week closing low.

"The markets are just on hold and you know what we are waiting for. We are waiting to find out if there are going to be any hints" of QE3, said Frank Lesh, a futures analyst and broker at FuturePath Trading LLC in Chicago.

Daily trading volume, which has been at 2012 lows this week in a reflection of investors' reluctance to place big bets before Bernanke's speech, could weigh on profits at exchanges and brokers.

Equity price movements have been muted as well, with the 0.3 percent dip implied by futures by far the biggest move of the week. The S&P has hardly moved over the past three days and hasn't closed with a 1 percent move in either direction since August 3.

S&P 500 futures fell 4.8 points and were below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 30 points and Nasdaq 100 futures lost 9.75 points.

The index has been pinned in a fairly tight range over the last three weeks, finding support at 1,400 while also unable to convincingly pierce the April high of 1,422.38, which has acted as a resistance point.

In other economic data, consumer spending rose by the most in five months, offering hope economic growth could pick up this quarter.

In company news, Pandora Media Inc surged 14.6 percent to $11.55 in premarket trading after reporting adjusted second-quarter earnings that beat expectations and raising its full-year outlook.

Citigroup Inc agreed to pay $590 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit accusing it of hiding tens of billions of dollars of toxic mortgage assets. Shares edged 0.7 percent lower in premarket trading.

Carlyle Group LP agreed to buy DuPont's performance coatings business for $4.9 billion in cash. Shares of DuPont, a Dow component, rose 1.5 percent to $50.70 before the bell.

S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC said it will replace retailer Sears Holdings Corp with chemical maker LyondellBasell Industries NV in the S&P 500 after the close of trading on September 4. Sears dropped 3.4 percent in premarket trading while LyondellBasell gained 5.4 percent.

U.S. stocks edged up just 0.1 percent Wednesday in the lightest trading of the year as investors held back from major trading decisions before Bernanke's speech.

(Additional reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

WhatsAppFacebookTwitterLinkedinBeloudBluesky