By Leah Schnurr
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street was poised to open lower on Thursday on worry a recession will be deeper and longer than anticipated as more companies reported disappointing results and outlooks.
The market was on track to extend Wednesday's slump to 5-year lows.
Among the heavy hitters to report before the opening bell on Thursday was Dow Chemical Co, the largest U.S. chemical maker, which said third-quarter profit fell and cautioned a global recession was likely for most of 2009.
The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits rose by a larger than expected number last week, government data showed, highlighting further erosion in the economy.
"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 5.6 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 34 points lower and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 15.25 points.
Also in the parade of results, Black & Decker forecasts for fourth-quarter profit missed expectations, sending its shares down 4 percent at $47.50.
Xerox Corp reported worse-than-expected profit as the weak U.S. economy damped spending by its largest customers.Shares fell 4 percent to $7.66.
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.
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.
Global recession fears also hit stock markets around the world, with European shares losing more than 2 percent, and Asian shares hitting four-year lows.
(Editing by Kenneth Barry)
