Wall Street to drop at open on new Greek worries

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street was set to drop at the open on Thursday as Greece once again soured risk appetite with more news on its deteriorating financial position.

Worries about the crumbling Greek debt have weighed on the equities and other markets in recent months. On Thursday, the European Union reported Greece had much larger budget deficits last year than anticipated and the cost of insuring Greek debt hit a record high.

"There are concerns (In Greece), obviously the ramifications there are huge," said Dan Cook, senior market analyst at IG Markets in Chicago.

"There is not really a good place in the world for (government) debt."

On the earnings front, Nokia's quarterly report disappointed investors after the world's top cellphone maker cut its profit outlook for a key unit. Its U.S.-listed shares tumbled 14.2 percent to $12.83.

S&P 500 futures fell 6.3 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 dropped 39 points and Nasdaq 100 futures lost 13 points.

Futures had a mostly muted reaction to data that showed applications for unemployment insurance fell in line with expectations in the latest week, while producer prices ticked up. U.S. March existing home sales are due at 10 a.m.

IG Markets' Cook said the PPI number was overall positive to manufacturers, and their stocks could trend higher.

Bank shares could be pressured by a speech U.S. President Barack Obama will deliver in New York, scheduled for 11:55 a.m., in which he is expected to tap into widespread anger at large financial institutions to make his case for stronger regulation over Wall Street.

Chipmaker Qualcomm Inc on Wednesday gave a weak forecast for the current quarter and full year, sending its stock down 7 percent to $39.64 in premarket trading.

Medical products maker Baxter International Inc reported quarterly earnings that matched analysts' expectations, but lowered its full-year outlook and it shares tumbled 11.5 percent to $52.20.

Other firms reporting on Thursday include Amazon.com , American Express Co and Microsoft Corp .

Adding to the negative tone, shares in Hong Kong and China fell overnight as government measures to cool surging home prices weighed on property and bank stocks. Investors see any move to cool down the Chinese economy as detrimental to the global economic rebound.

U.S. stocks finished little changed on Wednesday as disappointing outlooks from healthcare companies offset strong earnings from Morgan Stanley and Apple Inc .

(Additional reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak)

(Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio)

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