NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wall Street is set for a slightly lower open on Thursday, giving back some of the gains from the previous session, when the Federal Reserve boosted equities by saying it was likely to keep interest rates near zero until at least late 2014.

At 4:21 a.m. ET, futures for the S&P 500, Dow Jones and Nasdaq 100 were down between 0.1 and 0.3 percent.

The FTSEurofirst 300 (.FTEU3) index of leading European shares was up 0.3 percent at 1,042.50 points, with miners higher on stronger copper prices, which were boosted by the Fed’s statement, as were oil prices.

The euro was near five-week highs at $ 1.3110 though little changed on closing New York levels.

U.S. initial jobless claims are seen correcting up to 370,000 from 352,000 the week before, mostly from the smaller seasonal factor in the week ended January 21 after a reading where claims sunk to a nearly 4-year low. Claims just dropped 50,000 as they worked their way back from a reading that historically sees a rise in the first week of a new year. The data is due at 8:30 a.m ET.

The transportation sector could be a big wildcard for December durable goods, but is seen exerting only a modest drag, pulling the headline down to a 2.0 percent gain from 3.7 percent the month before, according to a Reuters poll of 69 economists.

Starbucks (SBUX.O), the world’s biggest coffee chain, reports quarterly results and may offer an early read on the success of its lightest yet “Blonde” roast coffee and an update on its recently introduced K-cups for Green Mountain’s (GMCR.O) popular Keurig one-cup brewers.

Other companies reporting include Caterpillar (CAT.N), the world’s largest maker of earth-moving equipment and telecoms heavyweight AT&T (T.N).

Big profits from Apple (AAPL.O) and a promise from the Federal Reserve to keep rock-bottom rates for at least two more years powered the U.S. stock market higher on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) rose 0.7 percent, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 0.9 percent, the Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) ended 1.1 percent higher.

Stanley Black and Decker (SWK.N) shares slipped 1 percent after the bell following the release of its results.

(Reporting by Brian Gorman. Editing by Jane Merriman)

TOKYO (Reuters) – Asian shares and the euro rose on Tuesday, but concerns over funding of euro zone sovereigns ahead of key auctions this week and of the debt crisis spilling into the wider financial system kept investors cautious about taking riskier positions.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) rose 1.4 percent following a modest gain in global stocks as the materials sector (.MIAPJMT00PUS) outperformed after Alcoa Inc (AA.N), the largest U.S. aluminum producer, gave a positive outlook for world demand.

Alcoa, seen as a bellwether of broader economic growth because of aluminum’s role in producing many goods, on Monday posted a fourth quarter loss due to a steep plunge in aluminum prices, but its revenue beat expectations.

Alcoa partly helped lift Australian shares and also Japan’s Nikkei (.N225), which gained 0.4 percent. (.T)

China’s exports and imports grew at their slowest pace in more than two years in December as foreign and domestic demand ebbed, putting export growth in December at 13.4 percent compared with a year earlier.

But immediate market reaction was limited, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index (.HSI) up 0.6 percent and Shanghai shares (.SSEC) up 1.5 percent.

With European woes overshadowing recent positive economic data from the United States, market players were looking for signs of how the euro zone debt crisis might affect Asian growth.

Chinese policymakers are expected to offer stimulus to underpin growth but downside risks remain that could make growth lower than the consensus forecast, such as side-effects from the slowdown in the property market, said Andrew Pease, Sydney-based chief investment strategist at Russell Investments Asia Pacific.

“It’s very hard to make a clear prediction until we start to see the shape of Europe,” he said.

“Asia being a high-beta market, if the world goes into a risk-off phase on the back of Europe, Asia will underperform. If Europe resolves its problems, Asia will outperform,” he said.

Pease said the current environment calls for a neutral stance in allocations and being opportunistic in hunting for bargains, such as a 10-15 percent drop in equities markets, or corporate credit.

He said investors should avoid markets that performed strongly in the past couple of years, such as U.S. Treasuries, and they should be cautious about commodities until China’s growth prospects are clear.

EURO VULNERABLE

The euro was up 0.1 percent at $ 1.2773, lifted by a short squeeze after hitting 16-month lows of $ 1.2666 on Monday, as players pared extremely bearish bets against the single currency ahead of key events in Europe this week. But the single currency remained vulnerable given no fundamental reasons for its recovery.

“EURUSD continues to trade below $ 1.2800, and prospects for EUR remain bleak,” analysts at BNP Paribas said.

Italian and Spanish debt auctions this week are the focus of the market as the two big euro zone economies are seen as most at risk from the crisis.

A plunge in euro zone government bond prices on concern about financing ability eroded capital at European banks which own large amounts of such bonds. Problems faced by a top Italian bank only underscored the difficulties of recapitalizing and raised fears about the debt crisis unsettling the financial system.

Shares of UniCredit (CRDI.MI), Italy’s largest bank by assets, plunged again on Monday as it began a rights issue to bolster its capital. Its stock has lost 45 percent since it priced the cash call at a big discount last Wednesday and its market capitalization has nearly halved.

The bank is the first big lender to tap the market to repair its balance sheet since new capital targets were imposed.

A meeting between the German and French leaders on Monday also added to jitters, as Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Nicolas Sarkozy warned Greece it won’t get more bailout funds until Athens agrees with creditor banks on a bond swap and pressed for an early deal to avert a potential default in the euro zone’s most debt-stricken nation.

Merkel and Sarkozy also said they aimed to wrap up negotiations among euro zone countries this month on a new fiscal pact tightening budget discipline, to be signed at the latest on March 1.

Asian credit markets were on the defensive side on Tuesday, with spreads on the iTraxx Asia ex-Japan investment grade index sticking to late Monday levels.

(Additional reporting by Ian Chua in Sydney; Editing by Richard Borsuk)

(Reuters) – Stock index futures pointed to a weaker open for equities on Wall Street on Wednesday after strong gains in the previous session, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100 down 0.3 to 0.9 percent.

The Labor Department releases the September Consumer Price Index at 1230 GMT. Economists expect a 0.3 percent rise, compared with a 0.4 percent increase in August.

Major companies announcing results include Morgan Stanley (MS.N), American Express (AXP.N), United Technologies (UTX.N), Abbott Laboratories (ABT.N) and eBay (EBAY.O).

The Mortgage Bankers Association releases its Mortgage Market Index for the week ended October 14 at 1100 GMT. It read 744.3 in the previous week and the refinancing index was 4,072.3.

A growing number of News Corp (NWSA.O) shareholders with voting rights are considering sending a strong message of discontent to Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch by voting against several long-standing board members including his sons James and Lachlan.

The Commerce Department releases housing starts and permits for September at 1230 GMT. Economists forecast a 590,000 annualized rate for housing starts in September versus 571,000 in August, and a total of 610,000 permits in September compared with 625,000 in the prior month.

At 1230 GMT, the Labor Department issues Real Earnings for September. Economists expect a 0.2 percent rise versus a 0.8 percent fall in August. The Federal Reserve releases its latest Beige Book at 1600 GMT.

Apple Inc (AAPL.O) stunned Wall Street by reporting results that missed expectations for the first time in years, blaming rumors about the new iPhone for hurting demand in the September quarter.

Shares of Apple fell 7 percent in extended trading on Tuesday, wiping some $ 27 billion off the value of the world’s largest technology company. Apple shares listed in Frankfurt (AAPL.F) were down 5.6 percent.

Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) unveiled the first smartphone running on Google’s (GOOG.O) latest version of the Android operating system, which combines software used in tablets and smartphones, as they step up competition against Apple.

Nomura Holdings (8604.T) is set to buy a China unit of GE Capital — General Electric Co’s (GE.N) finance arm — in a key step toward building a solid footing in the fast-growing financial markets of the mainland, a source with knowledge of the matter said.

U.S. stocks surged late in trading on Tuesday as buyers latched onto another report of agreements to strengthen the euro zone’s rescue fund.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) ended up 180.05 points, or 1.58 percent, at 11,577.05. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (.SPX) was up 24.52 points, or 2.04 percent, at 1,225.38. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) was up 42.51 points, or 1.63 percent, at 2,657.43.

Two senior European Union officials dismissed a report in Britain’s Guardian that a deal had been reached by France and Germany to scale up the euro zone’s rescue fund by around 5 times to more than 2 trillion euros.

Greek unions began a 48-hour general strike, the biggest protest in years, as parliament prepared to vote on sweeping new austerity measures designed to stave off a default that could trigger a crisis in the wider euro zone.

The FTSEurofirst 300 (.FTEU3) index of top European shares rose 0.3 percent in morning trade on Wednesday, while Japan’s Nikkei average (.N225) gained 0.4 percent.

Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O) lived up to lackluster third-quarter expectations, but the struggling Internet portal was tight-lipped about efforts to find a new Chief Executive or explore a sale. Its shares were up 3.4 percent.

(Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Hans-Juergen Peters)

(Reuters) – The Carlyle Group filed on Tuesday for an initial public offering of its common units as it looks to join rivals Blackstone and KKR as listed private equity firms, but the filing comes amid deep uncertainty on global equity markets.

The U.S. IPO market has struggled as concerns about Europe’s debt crisis and a weak recovery in the United States have made markets volatile. A number of deals were withdrawn last month.

“If Carlyle files in this timeframe, in basically a market meltdown, something doesn’t seem right,” said Scott Sweet, senior managing partner at IPO Boutique.

Given the market conditions and the poor performance of other listed private equity players like Blackstone Group and Apollo Global Management, and the complex listing of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co may also dampen investor appetite.

“There is going to be pricing pressure for this deal, given the weak demand for financial IPOs and the performance of the listed companies,” said Josef Schuster, founder of Chicago-based IPO research and investment house IPOX Schuster.

Shares in Blackstone, currently valued at $ 14.6 billion, have dropped by a third since a near 3-year high in late-April.

The Carlyle filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lists an offering size of $ 100 million, though that is typically a placeholder. Sources said in June the offering could be as large as $ 1 billion.

Carlyle was valued at $ 20 billion in September 2007, before the credit crisis sent stock markets sliding.

The buyout firm said it generated economic net income — a measure of profitability used by private equity firms — of over $ 1 billion last year and around $ 770 million in the first half of this year.

Blackstone’s second-quarter economic net income was $ 703 million.

SPECK OF SAND

Carlyle will be managed by its general partner Carlyle Group Management LLC, which intends to make quarterly dividend payments to common unit holders.

Carlyle is controlled by its senior managers and investors which own minority interests in the business – Mubadala Development Co, an Abu-Dhabi based strategic development and investment company, and California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS).

Private equity companies and hedge funds typically give little, if any, power to shareholders in decision making.

“Investors have to be very comfortable with the fact that they are just a speck of sand on the beach when it comes to having any say in what’s going on with the company,” said David Menlow, President of IPOfinacial.com.

Carlyle, founded in 1987 by David Rubenstein, Daniel D’Aniello and William Conway, said it currently manages about $ 153 billion in assets — versus $ 159 billion at Blackstone.

The buyout firm told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in a preliminary prospectus that J.P. Morgan, Citigroup and Credit Suisse are underwriting the IPO.

Carlyle has invested in companies including Dunkin Brands, Alliance Boots and Freescale Semiconductor.

The filing did not reveal how many units the company planned to sell or their expected price.

(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal and Jochelle Mendonca in Bangalore; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stock futures tumbled more than 2 percent on Monday in electronic trading, hit hard after European markets slumped on renewed fears the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis is worsening.

European stocks fell 4 percent on Monday, with financial shares falling to their lowest in more than 2 years. Wall Street was closed on Monday for a holiday.

Italy’s FTSE MIB (.FTMIB) fell 4.8 percent, on renewed euro zone debt worries, and bond yields on Italian and Spanish government bonds hit their highest levels in nearly a month as pressure mounts on Italy — the euro zone’s third-largest economy — to get rising deficits under control.

S&P 500 futures lost 26.10 points, or 2.2 percent, to 1143.30, suggesting a sharp drop at the open of U.S. trading Tuesday morning. Nasdaq 100 futures lost 39.5 points, or 1.8 percent, to 2124.50.

(Reporting by David Gaffen; Editing by Carol Bishopric)

ZURICH (Reuters) – The Swiss National Bank shocked foreign exchange markets by setting a minimum exchange rate target of 1.20 francs to the euro on Tuesday, saying it would enforce it by buying foreign currency in unlimited quantities.

The move immediately knocked around 8 percent off the value of the franc, which has soared as investors used it as a safe haven from the euro zone’s debt crisis and stock market turmoil.

“The current massive overvaluation of the Swiss franc poses an acute threat to the Swiss economy and carries the risk of a deflationary development,” the SNB said in a statement.

“With immediate effect, it will no longer tolerate a EUR/CHF exchange rate below the minimum rate of CHF 1.20. The SNB will enforce this minimum rate with the utmost determination and is prepared to buy foreign currency in unlimited quantities.”

The SNB added that even at a rate of 1.20 francs to the euro, the franc was still high and should continue to weaken over time: “If the economic outlook and deflationary risks so require, the SNB will take further measures.”

The franc nearly touched parity with the common currency on August 9. It fell 8.5 percent against the euro after the announcement to 1.203 francs at 0821 GMT (4:21 a.m. ET) and also dipped almost 8 percent against the dollar to 0.8483.

“One will think twice about speculating against this target because the SNB is with its back against the wall. They’ve exploited all other options,” said Sarasin economist Alessandro Bee.

“Short term its clearly positive because Swiss exporters get supported,” he said. “Longer term you could say it bears inflationary risks.”

To cushion the economy from a downturn as the strong franc hurts exports, the SNB cut an already low interest rate target to nil on August 3. It is also boosting the amount of liquidity in the banking system, and had threatened further steps.

Those measures had temporarily helped the franc weaken, falling some 18 percent to a seven-week low, but it jumped again last week as worries about the health of the global economy intensified, increasing pressure on the SNB to act again.

Swiss Economy Minister Johann Schneider-Ammann called on the SNB on Monday to take action to counter the overvalued franc. Influential lobby groups had also called for stronger measures such as a temporary exchange rate target.

(By Emma Thomasson and Catherine Bosley)