NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- U.S. stock futures were trading little changed Thursday as investors awaited the latest data on consumer spending and inflation. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 7 points, or 17.51 points below fair value, to 16,764. S&P 500 futures were off 1.5 points, or 3.23 points below fair value, to 1,948. Nasdaq futures were up 0.7 points, or 2.38 points below fair value, to 3,815.5. At 8:30 a.m. EDT, the markets will get initial jobless claims data for the week of June 21 as well as May personal income and spending figures and the May core PCE price index. Personal spending is expected to have risen 0.4% after the prior month's 0.1% slide. There will also be a focus on inflation after the recent acceleration in the Consumer Price Index. Economists, on average, are expecting the core PCE to rise 0.2% month over month, pushing the year-over-year index to 1.5% from 1.4%. As inflation concerns pick up, Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital, acknowledged that inflationary pressure at the producer level has been, in some cases, passed on to the consumer. However, wage inflation remains dormant. "We reiterate that until higher labor costs become a problem, the chances of the Fed's inflation target being met are still slim," Cardillo said in a note. Jobless claims are forecast to have dipped to 310,000 from 312,000. European stock indices failed to break a four-day losing streak on Thursday, while Asian markets ended largely in positive territory ahead of the U.S. data at 8:30 a.m.. Individual companies in the spotlight Thursday include Barclays , GoPro, Allergan , Bed Bath & Beyond , Nike and General Motors . Barclays committed fraud in the sale and marketing of a "dark pool," an alternative trading platform used for large stock sales, according to charges brought by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. GoPro, the maker of wearable sports cameras, said late Wednesday it sold 17.8 million shares at $24 each in its initial public offering of stock. Hedge fund Paulson & Co. has amassed a large stake in Allergan of more than 6 million shares and supports a deal between the Botox maker and Valeant Pharmaceuticals , people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Bed Bath & Beyond reported fiscal first-quarter earnings that were short of analysts' expectations. General Motors told dealers in the U.S. and Canada to stop selling 2013 and 2014 Chevrolet Cruze sedans because of a potential defect in air bags made by air bag supplier Takata. Wall Street expects sneaker and athletic apparel maker Nike to post fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday of 75 cents a share on revenue of $7.34 billion. Benchmark U.S. stock indices gained ground on Wednesday, taking soft domestic economic data in stride. However, while markets are up, they have yet to fully recover from geopolitical tensions in Iraq and Ukraine which spooked investors a day earlier. Cardillo wrote that while the outlook remains positive for stocks, the chances of a summer dull trading range is likely to supersede positive second-quarter earnings in a few weeks. -- By Andrea Tse in New York June 26 Premarket Briefing: 10 Things You Should Know European Stocks Mixed, Asian Stocks Rise Ahead of U.S. Spending Data Markets Resilient Against Geopolitical Conflict, Soft Domestic Data
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