By Ryan Vlastelica
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Thursday as jobless claims unexpectedly rose in the most recent week, the latest sign the labor market continues to struggle.
Recent trading on Wall Street has been to the downside, with the S&P 500 on track for its sixth decline in the past eight sessions. While the benchmark index is less than 1 percent from a record close hit on Friday, investors have found few reasons to buy. The S&P closed under its 14-day moving average for a second straight session on Wednesday, a sign of weakening near-term momentum.
Jobless claims rose by 11,000 in the latest week, rising to 315,000. Analysts were expecting a drop of 2,000. The report follows the August payroll report, released last week, which was also weaker than expected.
While the data gave bearish signals on the economy, investors have viewed the weakness as indicating the Federal Reserve is unlikely to raise interest rates soon. However, recent research from the San Francisco Fed indicated investors expect rates to stay low for longer than the central bank itself does.
Despite weakness on Wall Street recently, many analysts view the longer-term uptrend as intact. In addition to holding near record levels, the S&P hasn't suffered a prolonged pullback in months, with investors using any market drop as an opportunity to buy.
Futures snapshot at 8:39 a.m. EDT:
* S&P 500 e-minis
* Nasdaq 100 e-minis
* Dow e-minis <1YMc1> down 80 points, or 0.47 percent, with 28,150 contracts changing hands.
(Editing by Bernadette Baum)
