PARIS- US stock index futures pointed to a mixed open on Wall Street on Thursday following Wednesday's sharp sell-off triggered by rising concerns over the outlook for the global economy. Futures for the S&P 500 were up 0.09 per cent, Dow Jones futures up 0.23 per cent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.12 per cent at 4:11 a.m. ET. Japan's Nikkei hit its lowest level in 13 months, hammered by concerns over a global slowdown that pushed the dollar to its weakest level in 15 years against the yen, but European stocks inched higher in morning trade following Wednesday's sharpest sell-off in six weeks. Oil fell for a third straight day, down 21 cents at $77.79 a barrel, while the dollar dipped after scoring its biggest daily gain for nearly two years against most major currencies the previous day as concerns about the US and global economies triggered a wave of unwinding short dollar positions. According to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released on Wednesday, pessimism over the US economy is rising and the grim mood could hurt both parties in the November 2 Congressional elections. Shares of Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O) will be in focus after the company warned of "unusual uncertainty" in the economy and forecast revenue that missed Wall Street targets, sending its shares down 5 per cent in extended trading and raising fears that a nascent recovery in technology spending could be derailed. Shares of Cisco traded in Frankfurt (CSCO.F) were down 6.3 per cent. Bookseller Barnes & Noble Inc (BKS.N) is in talks with Ronald Burkle's investment firm to end the billionaire's lawsuit and avoid a potential fight over the company's board, a source with knowledge of the talks told Reuters late on Wednesday. American International Group Inc (AIG.N) has started talks with potential investors to sell stakes in its Asian life insurance business AIA ahead of AIA's planned IPO, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. General Motors Co (GM.UL) has secured a $5 billion credit facility, two people briefed on the bank deal said on Wednesday, marking the return of the top U.S. automaker to the capital markets a year after it emerged from a landmark bankruptcy. Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI.BR), the world's largest brewer, reported second-quarter profit above expectations, helped by good weather and strong beer sales in Brazil. Companies scheduled to post earnings on Thursday include Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O), Kohls Corp (KSS.N) and Sara Lee (SLE.N), while economic data on tap include import and export prices for July and weekly applications for unemployment insurance. Both sets of data are expected at 8:30 a.m. EDT. US stocks surrendered the year's gains in a sharp sell-off on Wednesday as fears of a stalled global economic recovery prompted investors to dump risky assets such as equities and oil and buy government bonds. The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) ended down 265.42 points, or 2.49 per cent, at 10,378.83. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) closed down 31.59 points, or 2.82 per cent, at 1,089.47. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) shed 68.54 points, or 3.01 per cent, to 2,208.63.
