Stocks on Wall Street Appear Headed for Early Decline

Updated from 6:30 a.m. EST

Premarket futures were hinting at a sour open for Wall Street Thursday, as the automakers continued to search for ways to placate Congress, a slew of big-name companies announced layoffs and European central banks cut interest rates as recession set in abroad.

Futures for the S&P 500 were down 16 points at 852 and were 18 points below fair value. Nasdaq futures were lower by 20 points at 1136 and were 30 points short of fair value.

On Wednesday, stocks fluctuated before ending higher as Ford (F Quote), General Motors (GM Quote) and Chrysler petitioned Congress for a bailout. Investors also processed a series of economic data releases.

Ahead of the new session Thursday, the automakers are again in focus. Bloomberg reported that management at GM and Chrysler were contemplating a prearranged bankruptcy as a means to get government funds.

Layoffs and salary reductions were dominating the day's early headlines. Executives at Citigroup (C Quote), along with director and senior adviser Robert Rubin, were willing to go without bonuses this year, according to a report by the Financial Times.

Swiss bank Credit Suisse (CS Quote) announced plans to cut 5,300 jobs and said it expects to report a $2.5 billion fourth-quarter loss.

In other financial-sector news, The Wall Street Journal reported that credit card company Capital One (COF Quote) intends to buy Chevy Chase Bank for $520 million in a cash-and-stock deal.

The bout of layoffs and tempered guidance was not confined to the financial sector. Telecom company AT&T (T Quote) announced workforce reductions of 12,000, or about 4% of its employees, while DuPont (DD Quote) set plans to cut 2,500 workers.

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