Stock futures weaken ahead of data fury

The stock market headed toward a lower open Thursday as investors warily await a flood of key economic data.

Stock futures fell ahead of the release of reports including the Institute for Supply Management’s September manufacturing index and the Commerce Department’s August data on personal income and consumption. The Labor Department has its weekly jobless claims report and the National Association of Realtors has pending home sales figures.

Reports this week have raised investors’ doubts about the economic recovery and whether they should be continuing this year’s rally. The Dow Jones industrial average lost nearly 30 points Wednesday, as a disappointing report on Midwestern manufacturing contributed to the bearish tone.

Thursday’s early corporate news had little impact on the market. Cisco Systems Inc. agreed to buy Tandberg ASA, a Norwegian maker of hardware for video conferences, for $3 billion, signaling a continued uptick in mergers-and-acquisitions activity. An increase in corporate dealmaking has boosted investors’ hopes for a recovery and sent stocks soaring as recently as Monday, but the downbeat reports this week on the economy are still dominating the market.

Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 40, or 0.4 percent, to 9,613. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures lost 5.70, or 0.5 percent, to 1,047.20, while Nasdaq 100 index futures fell 10.00, or 0.6 percent, to 1,707.50.

Overseas markets also fell, even as the International Monetary Fund said the global economy is recovering faster than expected, but warned it will be a sluggish recovery.

A day ahead of the Labor Department’s jobs report for September, investors will receive an update on weekly jobless claims. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters forecast first-time claims rose 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 535,000 last week, up slightly from 530,000 the previous week. Continuing claims are expected to remain essentially unchanged at 6.18 million.

The Labor Department report is expected at 8:30 a.m. EDT.

The Commerce Department reports on consumer spending and income for August also at 8:30 a.m. EDT. Consumer spending likely soared in August, fueled by the government’s popular Cash for Clunkers program. Incomes, however, likely posted a tiny increase.

Economists predict consumer spending rose 1.1 percent in August, after rising 0.2 percent in July, and that personal income rose 0.1 percent in August after remaining flat in July.

The Institute for Supply Management will issue its assessments of the manufacturing sector for September later in the morning. The index is forecast to come in at 54, up from 52.9 in August. Readings above 50 mean the sector is expanding.

The manufacturing report includes key components such as production and new orders, which the market looks at for signs of how industrial companies are likely to fare in the near future. The report is expected at 10 a.m. EDT.

The National Association of Realtors will report on pending home sales for August. The report, which tracks signed contracts to buy previously owned homes and is considered a gauge of future sales, is expected to rise to 98.6 in August, up from 97.6 in July.

Bond prices were mixed Thursday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.29 percent from 3.31 percent late Wednesday. The yield on the three-month T-bill, considered one of the safest investments, remained unchanged from 0.11 percent late Wednesday.

The dollar rose against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 1.5 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 0.6 percent, Germany’s DAX index was down 0.4 percent, and France’s CAC-40 was down 0.5 percent.