U.S. futures lower, eyes on data; Dow Jones down 0.21%

U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open on Thursday, ahead of the release of U.S. data, while investors remained cautious amid ongoing uncertainty over the future of the Federal Reserve's stimulus program. 

Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.21% loss, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.22% fall, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.26% decline. 

European equities markets were sharply lower on Thursday, following on from sharp losses in the Asian session, as fears over the prospect of an end to central bank stimulus fuelled a broad based sell-off in risk assets and the dollar.

Earlier this week the Bank of Japan disappointed expectations for measures to ease volatility in the government bond market. The BoJ’s lack of action, along with expectations that the Federal Reserve will begin to scale back its bond buying program has fuelled widespread risk aversion. 

In addition, the World Bank said in a report that the global economy will expand 2.2% this year, less than a January forecast for 2.4% growth and slower than last year’s 2.3%. 

Telecom companies were expected to be active, after Clearwire's board recommended that shareholders accept an offer of USD4.40 a share from Dish Network, shunning a lower bid from its majority owner Sprint Nextel. 

Clearwire shares jumped 0.94% in pre-market trade. 

Also in company news, Safeway, the second-largest U.S. grocery-store chain agreed to sell its Canadian stores to Empire's Sobeys Inc. unit for about USD5.7 billion in cash, sending shares up 21.12% in early trading.

In the tech sector, Hewlett-Packard was likely to remain in focus after CEO Meg Whitman on Wednesday said that revenue growth is "still possible" for the computer maker in its fiscal year 2014. 

Among pharmaceutical companies, GlaxoSmithKline dipped 0.06% in extended trading after the pharmaceutical giant dismissed its head of research and development in China, earlier in the week. 

Separately, Pfizer dropped 0.63% pre-market after the drugmaker said rival Teva Pharmaceuticals and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries would pay USD2.15 billion to settle a patent infringement lawsuit related to its acid-reflux drug Protonix. 

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were sharply lower. The EURO STOXX 50 tumbled 1.11%, France’s CAC 40 retreated 0.81%, Germany's DAX plummeted 1.64%, while Britain's FTSE 100 declined 1.18%. 

During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index plunged 2.19%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index dove 6.35%. 

Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on retail sales and the weekly government report on initial jobless claims.

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