Stock index futures pointed to a dip on Wall Street on Thursday, after the Dow and Standard & Poor's 500 closed at 13-month high in the previous session and as investors braced for earnings from retail mammoth Wal-Mart (WMT.N).
At 4:35 a.m. EST, futures for the S&P 500 were down 0.57 percent, Dow Jones futures were down 0.58 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures were down 0.55 percent.
Wal-Mart is expected to report higher third-quarter earnings, but Wall Street will mainly focus on the retailer's U.S. sales, which it no longer reports on a monthly basis.
Walt Disney Co (DIS.N), Kohl's Corp (KSS.N) and Nordstrom Inc (JWN.N) were also due to report results.
The beverage sector will be in the spotlight after Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI.BR), the world's largest brewer and maker of Budweiser, increased third-quarter core profit by more than expected as price rises and cost cuts offset lower beer consumption.
After the bell on Wednesday, shares of 3Com Corp (COMS.O) shot up more than 35 percent in extended trading after Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ.N) said it agreed to buy the network equipment maker for $2.7 billion.
News Corp's (NWSA.O) Dow Jones & Co is close to selling its interest in the Stoxx Ltd stock-indexing business for $309 million, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter. Stoxx Ltd is a joint venture between Deutsche Boerse (DB1Gn.DE), Dow Jones and SIX Swiss Exchange.
Japan's Nikkei average (.N225) fell 0.7 percent, while European stocks were down 0.2 percent in morning trade, as energy stocks dipped along with oil prices, and with utilities such as GDF Suez (GSZ.PA) and RWE (RWEG.DE) falling after posting results that failed to impress investors.
Macroeconomic indicators on tap for Thursday include the MBA's weekly Purchase, Refinance and Mortgage market indexes at 7 a.m. EST, weekly claims for jobless benefits at 8:30 a.m. EST, and the U.S. Federal budget for October at 2 p.m. EST.
The Dow and the Standard & Poor's 500 index closed at 13-month highs on Wednesday as an upbeat forecast from a top homebuilder and data from China pointed to a strengthening global economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) was up 44.29 points, or 0.43 percent, at 10,291.26. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) was up 5.50 points, or 0.50 percent, at 1,098.51. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) was up 15.82 points, or 0.74 percent, at 2,166.90.
The Dow has risen 57 percent from its 12-year closing low hit on March 9.
