US stocks: Wall St opens sharply lower

Jobless claims top view,CPI rises faster than forecast

Fed worried euro zone crisis may affect US banks-report

Indexes off: Dow 2.8 pct,Samp;P 3.1 pct,Nasdaq 3.7 pct

Concerned the European debt crisis might spread to the US banking sector,the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has asked for more information about whether the US bank units of big European banks have reliable access to funds needed to operate,the Wall Street Journal reported.

The selloff is rooted in the European banking system,said Jack de Gan,chief investment officer at Harbor Advisory Corp in Portsmouth,New Hampshire.

It reflects continued concern that sovereign debt issues indicate we8217;re going to have to bail out all those banks again. And if there8217;s stress in major European banks,it will affect US banks too.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 313.90 points,or 2.75 percent,at 11,096.31. The Standard amp; Poor8217;s 500 fell 37.25 points,or 3.12 percent,at 1,156.64. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 93.43 points,or 3.72 percent,at 2,418.05.

Investors continued to worry that European policymakers were not doing enough to tackle the euro zone8217;s debt crisis. European blue chips were down 4 percent,with banks down 5.5 percent.

Separate US government reports showed new jobless claims rose more than expected last week,while consumer prices rose faster than expected in July.

Data on leading indicators and home resales as well as the Philadelphia Fed8217;s business activity index are due at 10 a.m. EDT.

US STOCKS: Wall St set to slide on renewed bank worries

US stock index futures pointed to a sharply lower open on Thursday as a report that regulators were intensifying their review of European banks8217; US units shook up investors.

Jobless claims top view,CPI rises faster than forecast

Fed concerned euro crisis spillover to US banks-report

Futures off: Dow 228 pts,Samp;P 27.2 pts,Nasdaq 48 pts

Concerned the European debt crisis might spread to the US banking sector,the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has asked for more information about whether the banks have reliable access to funds needed to operate,the Wall Street Journal reported.

Investors continued to worry that European policymakers were not doing enough to tackle the euro zone8217;s debt crisis. European blue chips were down 3.1 percent,with banks among the biggest losers.

The select sector SPDR financial ETF,an exchange-traded fund made up of US bank stocks,dropped 2.8 percent.

The slide in futures is rooted in the European banking system,said Jack de Gan,chief investment officer at Harbor Advisory Corp in Portsmouth,New Hampshire.

It reflects continued concern that sovereign debt issues indicate we8217;re going to have to bail out all those banks again. And if there8217;s stress in major European banks,it will affect US banks too.

Samp;P 500 futures fell 27.2 points and were sharply below fair value,a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates,dividends and time to expiration of the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures tumbled 228 points,and Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 48 points.

Futures ticked even lower after separate US government reports showed new jobless claims rose more than expected last week,while consumer prices rose faster than expected in July. and

Data on leading indicators and home resales as well as the Philadelphia Fed8217;s business activity index are due at 10 a.m. EDT. 1400 GMT

Concern about the global economy was underscored by a Morgan Stanley note on Wednesday that cut its 2011 and 2012 global gross domestic product forecasts.

Shares of NetApp Inc fell 14 percent to 35.84 in premarket trading a day after the data storage equipment maker forecast a weak second quarter in a further indication of soft tech spending by governments and large companies.

US stock futures signal sell-off ahead

US stock index futures pointed to a sharply lower opening on Wall Street on Thursday,with Samp;P 500 futures down 2 percent,Dow Jones futures down 1.5 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 2.2 percent at 5:17 a.m. EDT.

Japan8217;s Nikkei stock average dropped 1.3 percent,falling below the closely watched 9,000 line,hurt by the yen8217;s persistent strength and fears the United States might be heading for another recession,with many investors on the sidelines ahead of U.S. economic data.

European stocks were down 2.3 percent,with heavyweight miners among the heaviest losers as nagging fears about the outlook for the global economy prompted investors to sell recent gains from the market8217;s tentative recovery rally started last week.

Investors were bracing for a raft of U.S. macro data,including weekly jobless claims,existing home sales and the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank8217;s business activity index,seen ticking up to 3.7 from 3.2 last month,suggesting only modest activity growth.

The global economy is 8220;dangerously close to a recession8221;,Morgan Stanley said,as it slashed its growth forecast for 2011 and 2012,citing recent policy errors in the U.S. and Europe and the prospect of further fiscal tightening in 2012.

Morgan Stanley cuts its global gross domestic product growth forecast to 3.9 percent from 4.2 percent for 2011,and to 3.8 percent from 4.5 percent in 2012.

On the earnings front,companies including Hewlett-Packard,Gap and Sears Holdings are due to report results.

Limited Brands Inc reported a higher-than-expected profit as it sold more lingerie at full price and the company raised its August same-store sales and full-year profit forecasts,sending its shares up more than 3 percent.

Data storage equipment maker NetApp Inc posted quarterly revenue below Wall Street projections,saying business fell dramatically in July 8212; the latest sign that global technology spending is slowing.

JDS Uniphase Corp forecast weak first-quarter revenue on macro-economic challenges and inventory corrections,but said booking trends were encouraging.

Insurance broker Marsh amp; McLennan Cos Inc said it will buy back an additional 500 million of shares,doubling its share repurchase program to 1 billion.

China Mobile logged its fastest half-yearly profit growth in nearly three years as the world8217;s largest mobile phone operator by subscribers attracts more high-end 3G users upgrading to smartphones.

Tech shares fell on Wednesday after Dell8217;s disappointing sales outlook fanned worries that weak economic growth will hurt earnings in the third quarter.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 4.28 points,or 0.04 percent,at 11,410.21. The Standard amp; Poor8217;s 500 Index was up 1.12 points,or 0.09 percent,at 1,193.88. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 11.97 points,or 0.47 percent,at 2,511.48.

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