Futures on major U.S. stock indices remained range-bound on Thursday ahead of key weekly U.S. jobs data from the government. Futures on the S&P 500 are down 0.03 percent, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average are down 0.02 percent and Nasdaq100 futures are down 0.18 percent. The Department of Labor is due to report the initial jobless claims data at 8:30 am EDT. The economists forecast initial jobless claims to be 465,000 for the week ended August 7 against 479,000 of the previous week. Any data that is weaker than expected will weigh on market sentiments. On Wednesday, US stock markets slumped to below their 200-day moving averages as fears over global economic recovery mounted, following Fed's grim outlook and a report of a sharply widening US trade deficit in June. European shares waver between gains and losses and are currently trading with FTSE 100 is trading up by 6.37 points, DAX30 is trading down by 4.94 points and CAC 40 is trading down by 1.65 points. The euro declined 0.11 percent to 1.2848 against the dollar and the yen declined 0.06 percent against the greenback. Crude oil futures declined 1.01 percent and copper futures declined 0.06 percent. In the precious metal sector, gold futures advanced 0.24 percent and silver futures declined 0.09 percent. Asian stocks declined, following overnight plunge in Wall Street on speculation that the global economy is slowing. Japanese shares declined 0.86 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.64 percent and Chinese Shanghai declined 1.8 percent.

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