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Stocks to decline on Europe worries

  NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks were poised to open lower Thursday, as nervous investors continue to question whether Greece will secure a second bailout.

Investor sentiment was further dampened after Moody's put 17 global banks and 114 European financial institutions on review for possible downgrades.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), S& P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq (COMP) futures fell between 0.1% and 0.3% ahead of the opening bell. Stock futures indicate the possible direction of the markets when they open at 9:30 a.m. ET.

Among the global banks possibly affected by Moody's review -- nine are headquartered in Europe, the agency said. Moody's added that Swiss banks Credit Suisse (CS) and UBS (UBS), as well as New York-based Morgan Stanley (MS, Fortune 500), could see their long-term ratings slashed by up to 3 notches.

Meanwhile, uncertainty remains over Greece and its efforts to secure much-needed additional bailout funds. European finance ministersdelayed a decision on the bailout Wednesday, as they continue to evaluate a proposed austerity program from Athens.

Is Japan the next Greece?

The Eurogroup meets again on Monday and indicated it would likely give its approval for the latest economic reform proposal, which Greece needs in order to secure bailout funds and avoid defaulting on a €14.5 billion bond redemption in March.

U.S. stocks closed lower Wednesday, as the euro hit a 1-week low on uncertainty over Greece's debt crisis.

World markets: European stocks were in the red in morning trading. Britain's FTSE 100 (UKX) fell 0.7%, the DAX (DAX) in Germany dropped 1% and France's CAC 40 (CAC40) shed 0.4%.

Asian markets ended lower. The Shanghai Composite (SHCOMP) and the Hang Seng (HSI) in Hong Kong slipped 0.4%, while Japan's Nikkei (N225) edged lower 0.2%.

Economy: Reports due Thursday morning include initial unemployment claims, producer prices and data from the housing market. Investors will look to see whether the economic data offers further signs that the U.S. is on the path to economic recovery, after a number of strong macroeconomic reports in recent weeks.

Initial unemployment claims for the week ended February 11 are expected to total 365,000, according to a survey of analysts by Briefing.com -- up from 358,000 in the week prior.

Housing starts for January are expected to total 671,000, while the Producer Price Index for January is expected to have increased by 0.3%.

Companies: Corporate earnings are on tap from firms including General Motors (GM, Fortune 500), DirecTV (DTV, Fortune 500) and J.M. Smucker (SJM, Fortune 500).

General Motors is expected to post quarterly earnings of 41 cents a share on $38.2 billion in revenue, according to a survey of analysts by Thomson Reuters.

Wanted: Americans for factory jobs

DirecTV is expected to report earnings of 92 cents a share on $7.4 billion in revenue, while J.M. Smucker is projected to post earnings of $1.41 per share on $1.5 billion in revenue.

Currencies and commodities: The dollar was higher against the euro, the British pound and the Japanese yen.

Oil for March delivery slipped 47 cents to $101.33 a barrel.

Gold futures for April delivery fell $8.40 to $1,719.70 an ounce.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury rose, pushing the yield down to 1.92% from 1.93% late Wednesday.

First Published: February 16, 2012: 6:32 AM ET

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By John Hadoulis (AFP) –  4 hours ago   

ATHENS — Greek PM Lucas Papademos summoned political allies to an emergency meeting on Sunday after hours of " superhuman" negotiations with EU-IMF bailout auditors failed to produce a rescue deal.

An accord has to emerge Sunday for Greece to avert a disorderly default in March, Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos warned ahead of the meeting scheduled tentatively for 1300 GMT.

And Eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker piled further pressure on Athens, threatening to cut off funds if reforms were seen to stall.

" If we were to see that everything was failing in Greece then there wouldn't be a new (refinance) programme," Juncker told German magazine Spiegel.

" Everything must be concluded by (Sunday) night... so that we can be within the timetable given the bond maturities in March," Venizelos said.

" We are on a knife edge," the minister warned.

Athens has been in talks with the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank -- known as the 'trioka' here -- on further action needed to unlock a new eurozone rescue deal worth 130 billion euros ($171 billion) pending since October.

A further round of negotiations with the public lenders will begin at 1100 GMT, Papademos' office said.

Pressure is also mounting for an agreement with private lenders to wipe out part of the 350-billion-euro Greek debt, as Athens faces loan repayments of 14.4 billion euros ($19 billion) on March 20.

A senior government official on Sunday said " superhuman" negotiations with auditors from the troika had made progress but that certain gaps remained.

Chief among them is the public creditors' demand for labour cost cuts, rejected by unions and by the three-party coalition backing Papademos' government.

Opponents argue that further reductions will exacerbate a recession already fueled by two years of austerity measures.

" Agreement by the political leaders is necessary," the official said.

George Karatzaferis, whose far-right party LAOS is one of the coalition's three partners, on Saturday threatened to reject the eurozone bailout deal.

" I do not function well under conditions of blackmail," Karatzaferis told a party gathering in the northern city of Thessaloniki.

" If the package is not to our liking, we will not accept it," he said.

Papademos has reportedly threatened to resign if his coalition backers reject the demanded austerity measures, but government spokesman Pantelis Kapsis refused to confirm this.

Coalition leaders are strongly opposed to further civil service cuts, now reportedly affecting teachers and military staff, and for a reduction in the minimum monthly wage which now stands at 750 euros.

Europe's commissioner for maritime affairs Maria Damanaki, who is Greek, on Sunday said the country has followed a " disastrous path" until now.

" For two years we have promised changes which we failed to pursue, or failed to complete," she told To Vima weekly.

" We say much and do little. We agree to timetables we do not keep. Hence we have created the image of a state that is systematically unreliable," Damanaki said.

Copyright © 2012 AFP. All rights reserved.

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SMB United in focus: Singapore Stocks-May open down

Singapore shares may open lower on Thursday and
U.S. stocks fell more than 1percent on renewed euro zone concerns, with the euro sliding to an 11-month low against the U.S. dollar as the region's debt
worries prompted a wave of selling.


Employment in Singapore

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