Awwal 07, 1432, Feb 10, 2011, SPA - U.S. stocks are headed for a lower opening Thursday as investors weighed disappointing earnings news against an encouraging report on jobs, AP reported. The Labor Department said 383,000 people applied for unemployment benefits last week, the lowest level in nearly three years. That raised hopes that companies are slowly beginning to hire again. Yet economists note that applications would need to fall consistently to 375,000 or below to indicate a significant and steady decline in the unemployment rate. In earnings news, Cisco Systems Inc. fell 11 percent in pre-market trading after the world's largest maker of networking equipment forecast smaller-than-expected earnings in the current quarter. A Citi analyst also lowered his rating on the company. Pepsi Co. fell nearly 3 percent in pre-market trading after the soft drink maker said its net income fell 5 percent because of higher costs, despite a surge in revenue from acquiring its bottlers. The company also cut its 2011 earnings forecast, saying consumers remain pressured by high unemployment. But Sprint Nextel Corp. rose 3 percent after the company said it gained subscribers under contract for the first time in about four years. Ahead of the opening bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures are down 48, or 0.4 percent, at 12,159. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures are down 7, or 0.6 percent, at 1,312. Nasdaq 100 index futures are down 21, or 0.9 percent, at 2,342. Bond prices are falling, pushing yields higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.69 percent from 3.66 late Wednesday. Later in the day, a report from the Commerce Department will likely show that businesses at the wholesale level increased their sales again in December. The government is also expected to report that the budget deficit widened in January as the federal government heads toward what is expected to be a record $1.5 trillion imbalance for the entire budget year. -- SPA
