Futures step lower ahead of GDP data, raft of earnings - MarketWatch
Economic data will remain in focus Thursday with the latest gross domestic product reading for the fourth-quarter due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. Analysts polled by MarketWatch are expecting the data to show an annual growth rate of 0.7%.
The dollar was broadly flat against major rivals ahead of the data, with the euro slipping 0.1% at $1.5096. See Currencies.
Crude oil prices dipped slightly, but remained close to $100 a barrel. The April-dated light crude contract lost 30 cents at $99.34 a barrel. Gold prices also fell moved slightly lower.
In earnings news, Deutsche Telecom (DT:
) reported another quarterly loss, but said its business is stabilizing and managed to top forecasts for its underlying profit. See full story.
DT
Shares in Apple Inc. (AAPL:
AAPL
) could gain after the company's chief operating office said it's confident it'll meet 2008 targets for iPhone sales and added it isn't permanently married to the single carrier model its used for the iPhone so far. The Wall Street Journal reported that merger talks between Brazilian miner Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (RIO:
RIO
) and Xstrata (XSRAF:XSRAF
) have broken down due to disagreement on the role Xstrata shareholder Glencore International AG would play in the combined entity. Among a raft of companies due to report earnings Thursday, Dell (DELL:
Asian markets ended mixed Thursday, with Japanese stocks falling as a stronger yen hurt exporters. European indexesDELL
) is expected to post a fourth-quarter profit of 36 cents a share and American International Group (AIG:AIG
) is seen earning 69 cents a share in the latest quarter. 
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