DOW JONES

Stock index futures rose on Thursday, following three days of market losses and ahead of a batch of data including industrial production, jobless claims and New York manufacturing.

Stock index futures were higher on Thursday, following three days of market losses and ahead of a batch of data including industrial production, jobless claims and New York manufacturing.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.3 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.5 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.5 percent at 0906 GMT.

The five banks downgraded included French bancassurer Crédit Agricole, Danish giant Danske Bank, Finnish banking cooperative OP Pohjola Group and Dutch financial services provider Rabobank Group.

Brazil's said it is asking Chevron to halt its activities in the country and pay $10.7 billion in damages following an oil spill in November off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. However, Chevron said it has not received notice of the action.

The bottom dropped out of gold prices Friday as technical supports collapsed, hedge fund managers turned holdings into cash and a surging dollar killed any vestige of physical demand.

European stocks fell on Wednesday as weak commodity prices sparked a selloff in the energy and materials sectors and as a falling euro and high Italian bond yields kept Europe's debt crisis in focus.

Stocks fell on Wednesday as weak commodity prices sparked a selloff in the energy and materials sectors and as a falling euro and high Italian bond yields kept Europe's debt crisis in focus.

Wall Street was set to open slightly lower on Wednesday with traders focused on a sliding euro and rising Italian bond yields as market anxiety over Europe persisted.

The top pre-market NASDAQ gainers are: Broadcom, Melco Crown, Acme Packet, Endocyte and Silicon Precision. The top pre-market NASDAQ losers are: First Solar, Grifols, RADVision, ARM Holdings and Amazon.

Stock index futures fell in light Wednesday trading, pressured by a decline in the euro and by rising Italian bond yields.

In what is one of the oil and gas industry's largest financing project, ExxonMobil and Qatar Petroleum officials announced they have amassed $10.4 billion for a gas project in that country.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Urban Outfitters, Diamond Foods, Netflix, Arena Pharma, DryShips and Clearwire. The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: ProShares UltraPro Short and Amazon.

Futures pointed to a slight rebound on Wall Street on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.46 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.41 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.34 percent at 5:28 a.m. ET.

The top after-market NASDAQ gainers are: Saba Software, Urban Outfitters, Skullcandy, Cypress Semiconductor, Avanir Pharma and Atmel Corp. The top after-market NASDAQ losers are: Liquidity Services, Perceptron, Diamond Foods and BioMarin Pharma.

Stocks tumbled on Monday, as concerns about Europe returned to the forefront after major credit ratings agencies warned that European leaders had not done enough to tackle the region's debt crisis.

Gold prices tumbled to a six-week low Monday as bank selling and a skyrocketing dollar offset support from central bank buying.

As unprecedented conditions continue to buffet the U.S. equities, and investors pull tens of billions out, investment managers are increasingly counseling their clients on what could be the most basic of stock market strategies: put your cash in mature high-dividend shares of mature companies, and stop fussing.

Stocks fell on Monday on lingering concerns over a deal for economic integration in Europe and after Intel cut its revenue outlook.

Stock index futures extended losses on Monday after Intel Corp cut its fourth quarter revenue expectations.

Oppenheimer has issued its top picks in the technology sector for the month of December which include IAC/InterActive, Cisco, Nuance Communications, Teradata, Ceva, Broadcom and SanDisk.