Wall Street set to open flat

Stock futures pointed to a broadly unchanged start on Wall Street on Thursday, breaking a two-day rally. Futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones industrial average and Nasdaq were virtually flat at 4:49 a.m. EST.

Highlights:

* Companies reporting earnings on Thursday include Novell Inc, Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc and Williams-Sonoma Inc.

* A group of major discounters, including eBay Inc and Costco Wholesale Corp, is expected on Thursday to call for new laws blocking manufacturers from setting minimum prices on everything from flat-screen TVs to power drills, the Wall Street Journal reported.

* Capital One Financial Corp has offered $520 million in cash and stock for Chevy Chase Bank, the Journal also reported.

* Jobless claims data is due at 8:30 a.m. EST. The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits is seen rising to 537,000 from 529,000 in the previous week, according to a Reuters poll.

* Data showing factory orders for October is due at 1500 GMT. Analysts polled by Reuters forecast factory orders to have fallen by 4 percent, versus a 2.5 percent fall the previous month.

* Oil fell below $46 a barrel to its lowest level in nearly four years, extending four consecutive days of falls. Crude oil was 2.1 percent lower at $45.82.

* On Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average jumped 2.05 percent, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 2.58 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite Index shot up 2.94 percent.