Stock futures slide as recession anxiety weighs

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock futures fell on Thursday on worry a recession will be deeper than anticipated as more corporate earnings and outlooks disappoint.

Wall Street looked set to extend Wednesday's losses when stocks slumped to 5 year lows as investors struggled with an increasingly dire outlook for the economy and profits.

Among heavy hitters to report before the opening bell, Dow Chemical Co said operating earnings fell as it was hurt by a decline in shipment volumes and hurricane-related shutdowns.

Dow's chief executive said in his view a global recession was likely through most of 2009.

"The market is coming to grips, after being in denial for so long, with a global recession, and to our eyes, we've thought we've been in recession for just about a year now," said Barry Ritholtz, director of equity research at Fusion IQ in New York.

"Now the question is, is this going to be a more serious recession, is this going to be deeper, longer, more prolonged than previously expected."

S&P 500 futures were down 10.20 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 slid 77 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 14.75 points.

Black & Decker forecasts for fourth-quarter profit missed expectations, sending its shares down 3.2 pct to $47.87.

However, Altria Group Inc reported a higher-than-expected profit as price increases and cost-cutting offset sales of fewer cigarettes.

Interbank borrowing costs edged higher after declining sharply this week as rates were pressured by worries over a global recession.

The recent easing in rates had raised hopes that moves by global central banks to restore seized-up credit markets were taking hold, but markets shifted focus to take their cue from a raft of earnings results.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc plans to cut about 3,260 jobs, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The cut would represent about 10 percent of the total staff of the bank.

The impact on raw materials companies of falling commodity prices also contributed to Wednesday's stock market fall in which the Dow declined 5 percent to 8,519, the Nasdaq fell 5 percent to 1.615 and the S&P 500 lost 6 percent to 896.

(Editing by Kenneth Barry)