By Ryan Vlastelica
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock futures were little changed on Thursday, as investors were reluctant to make big bets ahead of the latest data on the labor market and the upcoming elections in Greece.
Weekly jobless claims are seen falling by 2,000 in the latest week, to 375,000. Recent U.S. economic data has been weak, pointing to sluggish growth, another concern for investors already fretting about Europe.
Uncertainty over the Greek election on Sunday, which could result in the nation's exit from the euro zone, has pressured U.S. equities for the past several weeks and contributed to a decline on Wednesday.
As much as 800 million euros ($1 billion) has been pulled out of Greek banks daily ahead of the election. Investors fear that if Greece leaves the euro zone, other peripheral nations may also have to exist.
"Everything is on hold until after the elections; it is very difficult, if not impossible, to get any gauge for market direction until then," said Oliver Purshe, president at Gary Goldberg Financial Services in Suffern, New York.
Exacerbating worries about Europe, Moody's Investor Service cut its rating on Spanish government debt on Wednesday by three notches to Baa3, saying the recently approved euro zone plan to help Spain's banks will add to the country's debt burden.
Italy was also in the spotlight as the country's borrowing costs jumped at a bond auction on Thursday.
S&P 500 futures fell 1.3 points and were slightly under fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on a contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 10 points and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 2.25 points.
Euro zone concerns have caused volatility to spike as investors quickly reverse positions on any change in sentiment or news. Major indexes have swung wildly throughout each day this week, with the CBOE Volatility index <.VIX> up 14 percent on the week. Anemic trading volume has amplified the movement.
Jobless claims data will be released at 8:30 a.m. EST (1230 GMT), along with May consumer price data, which is seen falling by 0.2 percent.
"We expect a weak CPI number, but that might end up being a positive because it gives the Federal Reserve the ability, should things turn out poorly in Greece, to act in terms of quantitative easing or other stimulus," Pursche said.
Nokia Corp
Winnebago Industries Inc
(Editing by Bernadette Baum)
