US Stock Futures Point To Flat Opening Thursday

Futures on the major U.S. indices point to a flat opening Thursday ahead of the Department of Labor's report on weekly jobless claims and the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Futures on the S&P 500 are up 0.02 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures are up 0.02 percent. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average are up 0.15 percent.

Investors are likely to focus on weekly jobless claims, to be reported later Thursday. Initial jobless claims, which measure the number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance for the first time during the past week, are expected to fall to 377,000 in the week ending June 9, down from 377,000 recorded in the previous week.

The CPI, which measures the change in the price of goods and services from the perspective of the consumer, will also be reported Thursday. The headline CPI inflation rate is expected to fall to 1.9 percent in May compared to the same month last year.

Market sentiments can be affected by the increasing concerns about the debt crisis lingering over the euro zone as Moody's Investors Service slashed the credit rating of Spain to Baa3 down from A3.

On Wednesday, the U.S. markets were down as investor confidence was low following disappointing data, which reported that the retail sales fell 0.2 percent in May. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.6 percent, the S&P 500 Index declined 0.7 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 0.9 percent.

Major European indices were in red as investor confidence was low ahead of the Italian bond auction later in the day. London's FTSE 100 fell by 47.44 points, Germany's DAX 30 Index declined 30.78 points and France's CAC 40 fell by 25.03 points.

Asian markets fell Thursday following global cues as investors continued to worry about the simmering debt crisis in the euro zone.