Stock Market Today: Futures Sink as International Markets Sit in the Red

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- U.S. stock futures were plunging Thursday as investors digested worries over the European markets and awaited a heavy dose of earnings reports with 419 companies set to announce results. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were sinking by 86 points, or 78.36 points below fair value, to 16,735. S&P 500 futures were declining 11.5 points, or 10.72 points below fair value, to 1,953.5. Nasdaq futures were retreating by 24.2 points, or 24.27 points below fair value, to 3,944.3. Read More: July 31 Premarket Briefing: 10 Things You Should Know U.S. stocks were mixed on Wednesday -- the Dow Jones Industrial Average down, the S&P 500 flat, and the Nasdaq up -- as the Federal Reserve maintained its federal funds rate and cut monthly bond buying by $10 billion to $25 billion, both moves largely anticipated by Wall Street. Earlier upbeat sentiment regarding an above-consensus rebound GDP figures quickly turned sour as it spurred anxiety that this would encourage the Fed to expedite its rate-tightening schedule. This cautiousness was dissipated by the subsequent FOMC statement, which implied that even though the Fed acknowledges the improvement in the economy and job market, rate hikes will remain a ways off and not likely begin before the second quarter of 2015, noted Sam Stovall, managing director of U.S. equity strategy at S&P Capital IQ. Amid numerous false starts, former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan says that a big, much-awaited pullback is coming. Greenspan told Bloomberg Television's Betty Liu on Wednesday that equity markets will see a decline at some point after surging for the past several years. "The stock market has recovered so sharply for so long, you have to assume somewhere along the line we will get a significant correction," said Greenspan. European stock indices fell on Thursday amid a plethora of earnings reports as eurozone consumer price figures suggested aggressive central bank tactics haven't shaken off the specter of deflation. Read More: Stock Market Today: Stocks Mixed as Fed Cuts Bond Buying to $25 Billion European Commission statistics showed the July annual inflation rate in the eurozone was 0.4%, down from 0.5% and below consensus expectations. In Lisbon, Banco Espirito Santo shares plunged more than 40% as trading resumed after it reported a bigger-than-expected loss of €3.6 billion ($4.8 billion) and fired the starting gun on an emergency capital raising after a key measure of the bank's financial strength fell below the regulatory minimum. Banco Espirito Santo said it might sell its international businesses. BNP Paribas investors revealed a record €4.32 billion ($5.8 billion) quarterly loss because of the French bank's mammoth $9 billion fine for breaking U.S. sanctions. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.16% to 15,620.77. Games console maker Nintendo closed down 6.5% after reporting a quarterly loss. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng closed up 0.10% at 24,756.85. Thursday's economic roll call includes initial jobless claims for the week of July 26 at 8:30 a.m. EDT and the July Chicago PMI at 9:45 a.m. ahead of the July U.S. nonfarm payrolls report on Friday. Companies in the spotlight Thursday include ExxonMobil , McKesson , Tesla , Time Warner Cable , Samsung and Sony . Samsung and Sony both suffered from a shrinking smartphone market. Sony's mobile devices unit said demand is expected to shrink by 14%, meaning that this year the company won't make money on smartphones. Samsung saw its share of the world smartphone market drop to 25.2%, a decline of 7 percentage points. ExxonMobil is expected to report second-quarter earnings of $1.86 a share on revenue of $108.38 billion. McKesson posted better-than-expected earnings of $2.49 on revenue of $44.1 billion vs. the average analyst estimate of $2.33 in earnings on sales of $40.65 billion. Tesla is expected to report earnings of 4 cents a share on revenue of $810.61 million after the market close. Time Warner Cable posted second-quarter earnings of $1.89 a share on revenue of $5.73 billion, falling short of the Wall Street target of $1.91 in EPS on revenue of $5.74 billion. Read More: European Stocks Sag on Banco Espirito Santo Fears, Deflation Worries -- By Andrea Tse in New York

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