By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures dropped Thursday, as the lowered sales outlook from Cisco Systems and largely grim retail sales underlined the economic pressures that helped President-elect Barack Obama win the election. A brief move off lows of the day following news that the Bank of England cut interest rates by 1.5 percentage points wasn't sustained. The European Central Bank also cut rates, but by a more modest half point. See Bank of England story. S&P 500 futures dropped 18.3 points to 939.80 and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 37.5 points to 1,268.70. Dow industrial futures lost 145 points. U.S. stocks tumbled on Wednesday, suffering their worst-ever percentage losses in the day after a presidential election, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 486 points, the S&P 500 lost 52 points and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 98 points. Thursday features weekly jobless claims, a report that takes on extra scrutiny a day before the release of monthly nonfarm payrolls. Also out are reports on third-quarter productivity. Several retailers also will be releasing same-store sales numbers. Thomson Reuters said same-store sales as a whole may drop 0.3%, which would be the weakest reading it's ever recorded since it started tracking the releases in 2000. Wal-Mart Stores posted better-than-forecast October sales. Other retailers weren't as ebullient. Costco Wholesale said same-store sales fell 1% in October, Limited Brands same-store sales dropped 9% and Big Lots cut its estimate of third-quarter earnings. On the earnings front, Cisco Systems fell 6% in pre-open trade as the group said current quarter sales may drop 5% to 10%. During the fiscal first quarter, the technology bellwether reported a flat profit on 8% sales growth, largely meeting expectations. "Although the duration of the weakness remains unclear, Cisco has frozen hiring and intends to reduce its spending by $1 billion by its fiscal year-end, which suggests it anticipates more than a brief slowing," noted analysts at Morgan Keegan, which nonetheless sees the valuation as "interesting" given the company's cash position. News Corp. shares slumped 21% in Sydney as the media giant reported a 30% fall in fiscal first-quarter profit and cut its annual earnings outlook. News Corp. is the parent company of MarketWatch, the publisher of this report. Toyota Motor dropped 10% after the Japanese automaker cut its earnings outlook. After the close, Walt Disney , Qualcomm and Nvidia will report results. Oil futures fell $1.90 to $63.40 a barrel. Gold futures eased $2.40 to $740 an ounce.

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