Futures fall as stimulus enthusiasm fizzles out

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures fell on Thursday, pressured by a weak earnings season and worries that the $825 billion economic stimulus package could still face a bumpy road.

Shares of widely held Dow component Exxon Mobil were down 2.1 percent at $77.55 before the opening bell after Goldman Sachs removed the company from its Americas Buy list, saying it saw better investment opportunities among energy companies.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed President Barack Obama's stimulus package late on Wednesday but despite the new president's goal of bipartisanship, every Republican who voted opposed the bill. The Senate begins debate next week.

"It's clear the Republicans don't want to play ball with the Democrats, they want to do it their way," said Paul Mendelsohn, chief investment strategist at Windham Financial Services in Charlotte, Vermont.

"Any slowdown in the stimulus package is not going to be good. The market wants to see this passed, done, signed, in the bank and let's move on to the next problem.

Investors were also watching for initial weekly jobless claims, due at 8.30 a.m. EST. Worries over mounting job losses have been in the forefront this week as more companies have announced massive cuts as they attempt to stay afloat.

S&P 500 futures fell 9.20 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 were down 79 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures lost 4.75 points.

A gain in Ford Motor Co helped futures trim losses after the ailing automaker posted a loss but saw a lower cash burn rate than expected and reaffirmed it plans to go ahead without government loans. Ford was up 6.9 percent at $2.17.

Starbucks Corp was the latest company to say it will slash jobs when it reported lower quarterly profit after the bell on Wednesday as sales fell globally. The coffee chain's shares were down 3.6 percent at $9.30.

Stocks rose on Wednesday as financial stocks soared on optimism the Obama administration was making progress on a plan to relieve banks of money-losing assets.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that government officials looking to revamp the financial bailout have discussed spending another $1 trillion to $2 trillion.

With Wednesday's advance, the benchmark S&P 500 capped its fourth straight day of gains, its longest run-up in two months. Year to date, the benchmark S&P 500 is down 3.2 percent, a marked improvement from a 6.4 percent loss seen at Tuesday's close. After starting 2009 up more than 20 percent from its November 21 bear market low, the S&P is up 16.2 percent from that significant low.

(Editing by James Dalgleish)