U.S. stock index futures pointed to a sharply lower open Thursday, as investors braced for a pullback from record levels. Wall Street also tried to shake off negative sentiment coming from the European political space.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials fell 94 points, or 0.4%, to 23,020. Shares of Dow-component Nike fell 1.9% in the pre-market after analysts at Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to neutral from buy. The Dow rose sharply on Wednesday to close above 23,000 for the first time.
S&P 500 futures slid 11.25 points, or 0.4%, to 2,548.75, while futures on the NASDAQ Composite index faltered 36.5 points, or 0.6%, to 6,082.75.
The pullback in the futures market took place exactly 30 years after "Black Monday," the worst day in the history of the U.S. stock market.
On that day, the S&P 500 plunged 20.5% and the Dow dropped 22.6%.
Switching back to the States, in data news, jobless claims and the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing business outlook survey are both expected to be published early this morning.
Overseas, European stocks went sharply lower approaching noon on the continent Monday, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.4%, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index stumbled 1.9%
Oil prices skidded 74 cents to $51.30 U.S. per barrel.
Gold prices improved $4.20 to $1,287.20 U.S. an ounce.
