The Wall Street Journal reports, "U.S. stock futures fell, as disappointing economic data and losses in overseas markets weighed on shares".
About 40 minutes ahead of the open, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures declined 98 points, or 0.6%, to 15845. On Wednesday, the Dow fell 31 points, or 0.2%, to snap a four-session win streak.
S&P 500 index futures gave up 12 points, or 0.6%, to 1805 and Nasdaq-100 futures lost 22 points, or 0.6%, to 3603. Changes in stock futures don't always accurately predict stock moves after the opening bell.
The declines followed losses in overseas stock benchmarks, and European shares declined as rising political tensions in Italy gave investors reason for caution.
Stock futures in the U.S. extended losses after a pair of economic reports were weaker than expected. Retail sales fell by 0.4% on the month, more than the 0.1% decline expected, and December's figures were revised lower. Excluding auto sales, retail sales were flat in January, while they were expected to rise 0.1%. There were 339,000 claims for jobless benefits in the latest week, more than the 331,000 expected.
Cisco Systems slumped 3.2% in premarket trading after the network-equipment maker reported a drop in fiscal second-quarter revenue, led by weakness in its core switching and routing businesses, and said emerging markets remain challenged. The company also raised its quarterly dividend by 12%.
Adam Sarhan, chief executive of New York-Based investment firm Sarhan Capital, said that Cisco's disappointment is a continuation of lackluster investor response to earnings.reports over the past few weeks.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note edged higher to 2.737%.
Gold futures eased 0.1% to $1,294.10 a troy ounce, after rising for a sixth-straight session Wednesday, while crude oil futures lost 0.7% to $99.65 a barrel to pull back from Wednesday's fourth-month high. The dollar lost ground against the yen and the euro.
In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 shed 0.9%, headed for its first loss in seven sessions.
Italy's FTSE MIB led declines, falling 1.5%, amid a renewed bout of political wrangling between Prime Minister Enrico Letta and Matteo Renzi, the newly elected leader of Mr. Letta's Democratic Party, leaving the country's left-right coalition government at risk of collapse. Italian bond yields have risen from the multiyear lows they hit on Wednesday.
Germany's DAX 30 index gave up 0.5%, France's CAC 40 dropped 0.6% and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 lost 0.9%.
Asian markets were broadly lower. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average shed 1.8% as a strengthening in the yen weighed on exporter stocks. China's Shanghai Composite lost 0.6%, pulling back from a 2014 high on Wednesday.
