LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures edged lower Thursday as worries about the health of Apple CEO Steve Jobs spelled pressure in the tech sector, while results at J.P. Morgan Chase weren't enough to restore faith in the financial sector.
S&P 500 futures
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fell 2.3 points to 837.50 and Dow industrial futures
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fell 9 points, while futures on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100
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shed 7.75 points to 1,157.70
In Europe, the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 turned higher in a choppy session.
J.P. Morgan Chase
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, which brought forward its earnings report by a week, wavered in pre-open trade as the New York giant met expectations with a $702 million, or seven cents a share, profit in the fourth quarter.
Still, that profit is down from $3 billion in the prior-year quarter. J.P. Morgan shares were up around 4% shortly after 8:30 a.m. Eastern.
Bank of America
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slipped 5% as The Wall Street Journal reported it's close to getting billions of dollars more in aid to close its acquisition of Merrill Lynch.
Dan Greenhaus, an analyst in the equity strategy group at Miller Tabak, said the government has a duty to help out Bank of America and others that bought troubled financials.
"I highly doubt the government, after turning to these companies for help, is going to leave them hanging with the negative repercussions of their shotgun marriages," he said.
Apple
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shed 5% as Jobs announced late Wednesday that he is going to take medical leave. Tim Cook, chief operating officer, is taking day-to-day control.
There was a host of economic data out, including figures showing a weekly jobless claims rise of 54,000, the fifth straight drop in wholesale inflation, a slightly better reading of a New York-area manufacturing poll, and a 17% rise in foreclosures.
A Philadelphia-area manufacturing gauge is out shortly after the open.
After the close, the world's top chipmaker, Intel
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, reports results, as does key biotech Genentech
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.
The European Central Bank chopped rates by a half-point to 2%, an expected cut after a flurry of weak economic data out of the euro zone.
In Asia, stocks plummeted, with the Nikkei 225 dropping 4.9% and the Hang Seng closing 4.6% lower in Hong Kong.
"People tried to talk themselves into investing in the market, but the global economic situation is only getting worse. Now they're starting to see the picture and can't fool themselves. So, they've started selling all over again," said Steve Cheng, associate director at Shenyin Wanguo.
U.S. stocks dropped sharply Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling for the sixth time in a row, as retail sales dropped sharply and as Citigroup's stock skidded below $5. The Dow industrials lost 248 points, the S&P 500 sliding 29 points and the Nasdaq Composite losing 56 points.
Steve Goldstein is MarketWatch's London bureau chief.