Stock Futures Waver After Jobs Data

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Stock futures pointed to a lower open Thursday as investors digested the morning's mixed jobs data before further employment figures from the government on Friday.

Futures for the

Dow Jones Industrial Average

were down 9 points, or 20 points below fair value, at 12,663. Futures for the

S&P 500

were down 1.3 points, or 1.7 points below fair value, at 1319. Futures for the

Nasdaq

were down 1.3 points, or 1.8 points above fair value, at 2486.

Ahead of Friday's monthly unemployment report, outplacement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas reported that U.S. companies planned to cut 53,486 jobs in January, a 28% increase over the 41,785 jobs cuts announced in December.

Also before tomorrow's figures, the Labor Department said that 367,000 Americans filed for initial jobless claims in the week ended Jan. 28. The latest reading was below the estimated 375,000 according to Thomson Reuters and down 12,000 from the previous week's figure of 379,000.

A measure of labor productivity in the fourth quarter increased at an annual rate of 0.7%, according to the Labor Department. The latest increase adds to a 2.3% rise in productivity in the prior quarter.

Social networking giant

Facebook

filed on Wednesday to raise $5 billion in what will be the largest Internet initial public offering on record. The social media company didn't reveal in its regulatory filing the number or price of shares it will offer. However, the dual class structure of the stock implies that the company's offering for retail investors will be less attractive than expected.

In Europe, Germany's DAX was up 0.2% while London's FTSE was down 0.1%.

"With Greece apparently very close to finalizing some sort of a debt forgiveness package, investors have turned their attention to the next country in line, Portugal," wrote Dan Greenhaus, strategist at BTIG. "Yields across the curve have surged of late, something that has caught the attention of many, especially so given the broad improvement in peripheral yields." Yields on 10-year Portuguese bonds were recently at 7.18%.

The worry for U.S. investors, as Greenhaus explained, is that Portugal will need additional funding after Greece. "Portugal's current bailout package expires next summer which means some decision will have to be made this summer in advance," he warned.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei Average settled 0.08% higher and Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.28%.

In corporate news,

Dow Chemical

(DOW) - Get Report

reported a fourth-quarter loss Thursday as rising commodity prices hurt the bottom line. The largest U.S. chemicals maker lost $20 million, or 2 cents a share, compared to earnings of 37 cents a share a year earlier. Excluding items, Dow earned 47 cents a share in the latest quarter and its revenue rose to $14.1 billion from $13.8 billion in 2010. Analysts had expected the company to post earnings of 30 cents a share on revenue of $14.19 billion. Dow Chemical shares were slipping 3.4% to $32.80 in premarket trading on Thursday.

Merck

(MRK) - Get Report

said growing worldwide sales and favorable exchange rates helped the company report stronger-than-expected earnings in the fourth quarter. The drugs and health care giant said adjusted earnings rose to 97 cents a share on revenue of $12.29 billion as global sales grew 2%. Analysts expected Merck to earn 95 cents a share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $12.53 billion. Merck shares were dropping 0.1% to $38.61 in premarket trading.

Royal Dutch Shell

(RDS.A)

, the European oil major, posted a modest drop in fourth-quarter profit because of weaker refining operations. Shell said net profit fell 4.3% to $6.5 billion. Shell's production arm was helped by higher oil prices. But Europe's largest oil company said its refining arm swung to a loss. The oil company's shares were falling 1.6% to $71.07 in early trading.

Costco

(COST) - Get Report

reported better-than-expected same-store sales in January. The warehouse retailer said sales at stores open at least a year climbed 11% last month to $7 billion as higher gas prices boosted income. Analysts were expecting sales to rise just 6.1%, according to Thomson Reuters. Excluding the impact of fuel prices, sales gained 8%, Costco said. Costco shares were climbing 0.9% to $83.94.

Germany's

Deutsche Bank

(DB) - Get Report

said fourth-quarter profit fell 69% to €186 million ($245.06 million), hurt by the eurozone debt crisis. The bank lost €351 million on a pretax basis. Deutsche Bank said the debt crisis made investors shy away from riskier investments, leading to reduced revenue from investment banking. The lender was slipping 2.2% to $43.55 Thursday morning.

Chipotle Mexican Grill

(CMG) - Get Report

, the quick-service Mexican food company, reported fourth-quarter earnings below Wall Street's expectations amid rising food costs. Chipotle reported a profit of $57.5 million, or $1.81 a share, for the three months ended Dec. 31, on revenue of $596.7 million, up nearly 24% from last year. The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters was for earnings of $1.83 a share on revenue of $591.2 million. The restaurant chain's shares were falling 1.7% to $364.

JDS Uniphase

(JDSU)

, the optical networker, posted fiscal second quarter earnings above analysts' expectations and provided a solid revenue outlook for the current quarter. The company reported a non-GAAP profit of $35.8 million, or 15 cents a share, for the quarter on revenue of $413.1 million, beating analysts' calls for earnings of 10 cents a share on revenue of $390.9 million. JDS Uniphase was advancing 4.1% to $13.67.

Sony

(SNE) - Get Report

Thursday reported a net loss of 159 billion yen ($2.1 billion) for the October-December quarter and estimated it would lose more money for the full fiscal year than it previously expected. Sony, the electronics and entertainment company, predicted a net loss of 220 billion yen for the year through March, wider than an earlier forecast of 90 billion yen. Results for the latest quarter were hurt by weak TV sales, a strong yen and production disruptions from Thailand flooding. Sony shares were dropping 2.3% to $17.77.

March oil futures were down 60 cents to $97.01 a barrel. In other commodities, April gold futures were up 9 cents to $17450.40 an ounce.

The dollar index was up 0.1%. The benchmark 10-year Treasury was down 3/32, pushing the yield to 1.84%.

-- Written by Chao Deng in New York

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