Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500, Dow Jones and Nasdaq down 0.6 to 1.1 percent at 4:44 a.m. EDT.

* European stocks fell in morning trade with miners lower, shrugging off hopes new Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard could compromise on a controversial mining tax. Investors were also cautious as the U.S. Federal Reserve gave a downbeat assessment of the economy, including Europe.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top shares was down 1.1 percent at 1,028.92 points.

* Crude prices eased on concerns over economic growth after the Fed's pessimistic outlook, though the dollar recovered from the previous session's losses.

* Lawmakers have waited until the final, frantic hours to sort out the most controversial provisions in the historic overhaul of U.S. financial rules. Democrats in charge of the process appear likely to retain tough restrictions on banks' trading and investment activities that could crimp profits for the foreseeable future.

* World leaders will warn this week against taking the global economic recovery for granted while also noting that the huge costs of stimulus could hurt long-term growth, a draft G20 document shows.

* Companies reporting earnings on Thursday include Oracle , Discover Financial Services, Lennar Corp., McCormick & Co, ConAgra Foods, Darden Restaurants and H&R Block.

* Nike Inc said late on Wednesday fourth-quarter profit jumped 53 percent to match Wall Street's view, but cautioned that the strong dollar and higher costs for oil, labor and shipping would weigh on profits and sales in the coming year. Nike's shares were down 2.7 percent in Frankfurt.

* Late on Wednesday, Dell Inc forecast a 14 to 19 percent jump in fiscal 2011 revenue as consumer and corporate spending returns, matching Wall Street's expectations, but investors are focusing on whether the world's No. 3 PC maker can sustain margins.

Dell's shares fell 1.2 percent in Frankfurt.

* Google Inc won a landmark victory over media companies late Wednesday as a Manhattan federal judge threw out Viacom Inc's $1 billion lawsuit accusing the Internet company of allowing copyrighted videos on its YouTube service without permission.

* Providence Equity Partners is in preliminary talks with toy maker Hasbro Inc to take the company private in a leveraged buyout, the Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the situation.

* BP Plc resumed collecting oil from its leaking Gulf of Mexico well on Thursday after a temporary setback while a poll showed the environmental disaster is draining public confidence in U.S. President Barack Obama.

* BP is set to partner with U.S. rival Chevron Corp to bid for a South China Sea exploration block, the Wall Street Journal said, citing a person familiar with the matter.

* Japan's annual export growth slowed for a third consecutive month in May in a sign that its overall economic growth could start to slow as the pace of recovery in overseas demand moderates.

* Movie studio The Weinstein Co has agreed to a major debt restructuring that gives Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Assured Guaranty Ltd possession of as many as 250 films in its library, the Wall Street Journal said.

* U.S. stocks mostly fell in a volatile session on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve downgraded its assessment of the economic recovery as it vowed to keep cheap money flowing.

* The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> edged up 0.05 percent, but the Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> dipped 0.30 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> fell 0.33 percent.

(Reporting by Joanne Frearson; Editing by Hans Peters)

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