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 Investors continue to place bets on the direction of interest rates. The Federal Reserve's Beige Book, issued Wednesday, gave some investors pause who were banking on a cut in the benchmark federal funds rate: The report suggested that while problems in the credit markets have exacerbated a housing market slump, the turmoil hasn't damaged the broader economy. Stocks fell sharply, taking the Dow Jones industrials down more than 140 points.
Stock futures slipped from early gains Thursday, as European stock markets turned lower. Dow futures fell 35, or 0.30 percent, to 13,308. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 3.80, or 0.26 percent, to 1,472.80, and Nasdaq 100 index futures dipped 4.75, or 0.24 percent, to 1,998.50.
Overseas, Britain's FTSE 100 dropped 0.51 percent, Germany's DAX index lost 0.57 percent, and France's CAC-40 fell 0.32 percent. Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.61 percent.
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 Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 4.48 percent from 4.55 percent late Tuesday. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold and oil prices climbed in premarket activity.
Among the early retailers to report August sales, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said August same-store sales, whice measure business at stores open at least one year, rose 3.1 percent. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had forecast a more modest 1.5 percent increase.
Late Wednesday, troubled mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp. said it will cut another 900 jobs nationwide after eliminating about 500 positions last month. The nation's largest mortgage lender by volume employs about 60,000 people.
[Associated Press; by Lauren
Villagran]
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