Stocks head for lower open as economic woes mount

[November 06, 2008]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street recoiled again Thursday, sending stock futures sharply lower ahead of the market's open as investors braced for data on retail sales and jobless claims that are likely to add to evidence that the economy is in a deep recession.

Economists expect the Commerce Department to report at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time that new claims for unemployment benefits rose 1,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted level of 480,000. And retailers, from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to Gap Inc. to Saks Inc., will release October sales figures that Wall Street expects to show a severe pullback among consumers.

A late Wednesday warning by Cisco Systems Inc. added to investors' nervousness. The world's largest maker of computer networking gear said orders fell off sharply last month, suggesting to the market that the weak economy and tight credit markets are taking a larger-than-expected toll on many companies.

Ahead of the market's open, Dow Jones industrial futures fell 146, or 1.59 percent, to 9,029. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 18.00, or 1.88 percent, to 940.00, while Nasdaq 100 index futures fell 36.75, or 2.81 percent, to 1,269.50.

On Wednesday, Wall Street plunged as investors considered once again how deep and protracted a recession President-elect Barack Obama will face in January when he is sworn in. After a string of gains in stocks, jitters returned to the market, driving the Dow down nearly 500 points. All three major indexes dropped more than 5 percent.

In other troubling earnings data, News Corp., the media empire run by Rupert Murdoch, reported a 30 percent decline in quarterly profits late Wednesday and said its operating profit for the current fiscal year will sink because of the U.S. dollar's strength overseas and a slowdown in advertising revenue.

The dollar traded mixed against most other major currencies, while gold prices fell.

Light, sweet crude fell $1.20 to $64.10 a barrel in premarket electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In Asian trading, Japan's Nikkei index fell 6.53 percent, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 7.08 percent. In morning trading in Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 4.33 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 4.39 percent, and France's CAC-40 fell 4.36 percent.

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On the Net:

New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com/

Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com/

[Associated Press; By MADLEN READ]

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