U.S. stock futures failed to extend gains Thursday following a rare up day, with disappointment over a lack of new Chinese spending and a warning from General Motors on its ability to survive dampening sentiment.
S&P 500 futures slipped 12 points to 696.40 and Nasdaq 100 futures dipped 8.75 points to 1,092.20. Dow industrial futures slipped 90 points.
U.S. stocks closed higher Wednesday after five sessions of losses, with hopes for China spending driving the broad-based gains, save for the financial sector. The Dow industrials climbed 149 points, the S&P 500 rose 16 points and the Nasdaq Composite added 32 points.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Thursday deflated spending hopes, however, as he largely reiterated a $585 billion stimulus package.
"While financial markets had anticipated additional fiscal stimulus measures, in one form or another, the Premier's report today did not deliver such surprises, except for reiterating the supportive macro/industry-specific measures that have already been announced," said economists at J.P. Morgan Chase.
Though the Shanghai Composite built on Wednesday's gains, the Hang Seng slipped 1%.
The U.K. FTSE 100 and the German DAX 30 also nursed losses of more than 2%.
The Bank of England as expected cut rates to a new record low of 0.5%, and also announced plans to buy 75 billion pounds of securities as it engages in quantitative easing. The European Central Bank also is expected to cut rates.
Turning stateside, data will be released on factory orders for January, fourth-quarter productivity and weekly jobless claims. Markets also will be positioning ahead of Friday's monthly payrolls report.
Retailers will be reporting same-store figures for February, which aren't expected to be as bad as January's due to purchases of final holiday markdowns, pent-up demand for new spring merchandise and holidays.
Standard & Poor's, for instance, estimated a 6.8% drop in sales for the 14 apparel retailers it tracks and a 12.5% decline for the department-store segment.
General Motors fell 7% in pre-open trade after expressing doubts over its ability to survive as a going concern.
Exxon Mobil will be holding an analyst day.
The dollar rose vs. rivals, notably the euro and the British pound, and crude oil futures fell by over $1 a barrel.
Gold futures rose over $10 an ounce.
