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Oil prices spiked, with Brent crude up 3.4
percent to $58.40 and U.S. crude up 3.5 percent to $50.93 after
warplanes from Saudi Arabia and its allies struck Shi'ite Muslim
rebels fighting to oust Yemen's president. Halliburton shares
gained 1.3 percent to $44.02 in premarket trade.
U.S. stocks dropped on Wednesday as a slump in technology and
biotechs sent the Nasdaq to its biggest decline in nearly a year
while the S&P 500 fell through key support levels.
Semiconductor stocks are likely to be under pressure for a
fourth straight session, after SanDisk <SNDK.O> cut its
first-quarter and 2015 revenue outlook and withdrew its other
forecasts for the same time frame. Shares of SanDisk tumbled 13
percent to $70.60 before the opening bell. The PHLX
semiconductor index <.SOX> had its biggest drop since Oct. 10 on
Wednesday and is down 6.3 percent for the week.
Weekly initial jobless claims data will be eyed at 8:30 a.m.
(1230 GMT) for signs of continued strength in the labor market.
Expectations call for claims to dip slightly to 290,000 from the
291,000 in the prior week.
At 9:45 a.m. (1345 GMT), the preliminary or "flash" March
reading of financial data firm Markit's Purchasing Managers
Index on the services sector is scheduled for release.
Lululemon Athletica <LULU.O> lost 1.6 percent to $60.01 in
premarket after the Canadian yogawear retailer forecast a
weaker-than expected first quarter profit, months after it said
margins would trough in 2015 as it continues to invest in
improving quality and solving supply-chain problems.
Consulting and outsourcing company Accenture Plc's <ACN.N>
quarterly net revenue rose 5 percent, helped by growth in its
outsourcing business as North American companies look to cut
costs. Its shares rose 2.6 percent to $90.49 before the opening
bell.
European shares fell with the London Stock Exchange leading the
market lower on news Borse Dubai will sell its full stake in the
company and ARM Holdings <ARM.L> extending the previous
session's steep losses.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei suffered its worst drop in 10 weeks on
weakness in semiconductor stocks while Chinese stocks ended
higher in a volatile volatile sessions as a sharp drop in
Internet stocks was offset by a surge in energy shares.
S&P 500 e-minis were down 14 points, or 0.68 percent, with
208,435 contracts changing hands.
Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 46.25 points, or 1.07 percent, in
volume of 39,480 contracts.
Dow e-minis were down 124 points, or 0.7 percent, with
35,886 contracts changing hands.
(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
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