Stock futures fell early Thursday amid renewed concerns over Greece's financial position. S&P 500 futures declined 5.8 points in the pre-market and were below fair value. Dow futures gave up 32 points, while Nasdaq 100 futures lost 12.75 points.
The European Union reported that Greece, as well as Ireland, had much larger budget deficits last year than had been expected.
PepsiCo (PEP) said it earned $1.43 billion, or 89 cents a share, during the first quarter. That was up 25% from the prior year and 14 cents above views. But sales climbed only 13%, missing estimates.
CenturyTel (CTL) announced plans to buy Qwest Communications International (Q) in a stock swap worth $10.6 billion. The deal would unite two major providers of traditional landline telephone services and create a telecom giant serving 37 states.
The Labor Department is due to report weekly jobless claims data at 8:30 a.m. EDT. Economists expect that claims fell to 450,000 last week from 484,000 a week earlier.
Also at 8:30 a.m. EDT, Labor releases its Producer Price Index. Economists forecast the PPI rose 0.5% last month vs. the prior month's 0.6% decline. A gain of only 0.1% is expected once volatile food and energy prices are stripped out.
The National Association of Realtors is slated to release its report on existing home sales at 10 a.m. EDT. Economists predict existing home sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.29 million last month, up from 5.02 million in February.
Elsewhere, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.76% early Thursday from 3.74% late Wednesday. The dollar rose against other major currencies. Gold and oil prices fell.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average fell 1.27%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.26%. In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 shed 0.76%, Germany's DAX index declined 0.89% and France's CAC-40 retreated 1.06%.
