U.S. Stock Futures Lower as Pessimism Reigns

Among technology companies, Yahoo! (YHOO Quote) is still in talks to purchase Time Warner's (TWX Quote) AOL business, according to a report by Bloomberg.

In the earnings department, government-controlled mortgage firm Freddie Mac (FRE Quote) is slated to report quarterly results before trading begins.

As for the day's economic data, the Department of Labor's initial jobless claims for the week ended Nov. 15 are due for release, as are the Conference Board's leading indicators index and the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's manufacturing survey.

Moving on to commodities, crude oil was losing $1.32 to $52.30 a barrel. Gold was up $8.40 to $744.40.

Longer-dated U.S. Treasury securities were climbing in price. The 10-year was up 15/32, yielding 3.27%, and the 30-year was adding 31/32 to yield 3.85%.

Across the seas, European exchanges such as the FTSE in London and the DAX in Frankfurt were trading lower. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei and Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed with major losses.