Stock futures drop on Greek deficit news, U.S. data eyed

Doubts over Greece's ability to finance itself have triggered negative investor sentiment in recent months. On Thursday, the European Union reported that Greece, as well as Ireland, had much larger budget deficits last year than had been expected.

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

S&P 500 futures fell 7.3 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 46 points and Nasdaq 100 futures lost 13.5 points.

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 banking stocks. Investors see any move to cool down the Chinese economy as detrimental to the global economic rebound.

Data set for release on Thursday include weekly jobless claims and producer prices for March at 8:30 a.m. EDT, and U.S. March existing home sales at 10 a.m.

Nokia's quarterly earnings report disappointed investors after it cut its profit outlook for its key phone unit. Its U.S. -traded shares tumbled almost 13 percent to $13.02.

Also on the tech front, Microsoft is expected to post third-quarter results after the market close. Other firms reporting on Thursday include The Hershey Co , Amazon.com , American Express Co , Verizon and PepsiCo .

Jitters over Goldman Sachs' fraud allegations are expected to linger after German state bank BayernLB said it had severed business ties with the Wall Street bank over the charges, while France eyed an investigation of its own.

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

Shares of Internet auctioneer and retailer EBay Inc , also dropped more than 7 percent in light premarket trading after it gave a forecast that fell short of Wall Street expectations.

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

( Reporting by Rodrigo Campos, editing by W Simon )

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