IBT Staff Reporter

U.S. stock index futures dipped on Thursday ahead of leading indicator and jobless data and a slew of big corporate earnings reports, including American Express, Amazon.com, Dow Chemical and Merck.

Disappointing results from telecom equipment heavyweight Ericsson (ERICb.ST) and profit-taking after a recent strong run helped send European shares lower around midday on Thursday.

Russia has dropped its $22.5 billion lawsuit against Bank of New York Mellon , in line with an earlier request by the country's Customs Service, a judge said on Thursday.

U.S. aerospace giant Boeing Co estimates northeast Asia will need about 1,200 airplanes worth about $190 billion over the next 20 years, a senior company executive said on Thursday.

Credit Suisse Group AG said it was upbeat about its prospects after exceeding third-quarter net profit forecasts by a wide margin thanks to a solid investment banking performance and good client inflows.

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Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 fell 0.1 to 0.5 percent, pointing to a weaker start on Wall Street on Thursday.

Job prospects for executives at multinationals in Greater China and Singapore have improved sharply in the past three months amid growing optimism that Asia's recovery from the global recession will be sustainable, a quarterly survey showed on Thursday.

Disappointing corporate results knocked equities lower on Thursday while the dollar bounced off 14-month lows.

Chinese state-owned metals trader China Minmetals Corp is looking to buy gold mines in Australia and Canada, a senior executive said on Thursday.

Global miner BHP Billiton acknowledged on Thursday that it and other iron ore producers had at times upset their major customer China and said that Beijing realised it had to play with the big boys.

Microsoft is working on a new operating system that will be targeted at corporate customers, Acer's chairman said on Thursday, as the software giant launches its next-generation Windows 7.

Acer Inc, the world's No. 2 PC maker, expects revenue to grow about 70 percent to $30 billion in three years, helped by growth in the PC and handheld devices sector, the company's chairman said on Thursday.

Japan Airlines' net loss may balloon to about 500 billion yen ($5.5 billion) for the year to March as the heavily indebted carrier, Asia's largest by revenue, plans to book hefty restructuring charges, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Thursday.

British oil and gas services company Petrofac Plc said it was confident it would deliver full year earnings growth of at least 20 percent after continued contract wins and healthy bidding activity.

The global downturn finally caught up with telecom gear maker Ericsson on Thursday as it posted falling sales and lower-than-expected quarterly core earnings.

GVT, the Brazilian telecommunications company target of a takeover attempt by two global rivals, said on Wednesday third quarter net income rose on new phone and broadband lines after a loss a year earlier.

Private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management is planning to take gun maker Freedom Group Inc public in a $200 million initial public offering, according to a regulatory filing.

Boutique investment bank Imperial Capital Group Inc is planning to raise as much as $150 million in an initial public offering.

Nestle SA, the world's biggest food group, met forecasts with nine-month organic sales growth of 3.6 percent after a disappointing first-half 3.5 percent, and upped its share buyback.

South Korea's Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) agreed to buy Canada's Harvest Energy Trust for C$1.8 billion ($1.7 billion), the Canadian company said on Wednesday.

Bank of America Corp agreed to sell First Republic private bank to a group of private equity investors.

The European Union told Oracle Corp on Wednesday that it has failed to produce hard evidence to placate concerns that its purchase of Sun Microsystems Inc would hurt competition.

Asian shares fell on Thursday amid disappointment that robust Chinese growth data offered few surprises, but the dollar gained some respite as an expected shift to higher-yielding currencies failed to materialize.

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The world's first copy of Microsoft's new operating system, Windows 7, has been bought by an Australian early on Thursday morning, ninemsn reported.

Google Inc has suspended the services of investor relations firm Market Street Partners -- the tiny firm federal investigators said tipped off hedge fund traders on Google's 2007 earnings.

Computer makers hoping for Microsoft Corp's new Windows 7 operating system to free up a long-awaited corporate spending spree may have to wait until the second half of next year.

China's economic growth picked up as expected last quarter as a potent cocktail of breakneck investment and buoyant bank lending more than made up for a slump in exports, the government said on Thursday.