EUROPEAN MIDDAY BRIEFING FROM DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
AMERICAN MARKETS OUTLOOK: Stocks are expected to fall at Thursday's open following the Fed's warning over inflation and ongoing economic worries, said Claire Collingwood, a trader at spreadbettor CMC Markets in London.
"Today's session will again be dominated by U.S. economic data, with the release of GDP figures and jobless claims, and following yesterday's comments by the Fed, which left people scratching their heads, anything away from the expected +1% for GDP will again cause a degree of movement throughout the markets," said Collingwood.
"A continued fall in oil prices will help to boost sentiment later in the day, but with a slew of economic data expected we could see the state of index futures change before the open," Collingwood added.
In earnings news, building giant Lennar Corp. reports fiscal 2Q results. At 1049 GMT, S&P 500 futures were down 5.9 points at 1316.7, Nasdaq 100 futures were down 13.5 points at 1918.75 and Dow industrial futures were down 65 points at 11,741.
EUROPEAN MARKETS: European markets are lower midday, with a plan by Dutch-Belgian banking group Fortis to issue new stock reviving financial-sector health worries.
The euro's strength against the dollar stung exporters, with EADS, which sells the Airbus planes it builds in Europe in dollars, down 3.4%. Societe Generale downgraded the stock to sell from hold, saying dollar weakness remains the main issue, adding sentiment is unlikely to be helped by airline difficulties in face of high oil prices.
London's FTSE 100 is down 1.4% at 5589.80 as inflation fears and general macroeconomic concerns bite. Fortis' solvency moves dragged down banking shares, including Barclays and Lloyds TSB.
London Stock Exchange shares dropped after it said it will team up with Lehman Brothers to create pan-European multilateral trading facility for the execution of non-display, or "dark pool," orders.
Shares of BSkyB dropped after J.P. Morgan cut the company to underweight from overweight and slashed its price target to 560 pence from 700 pence.
In Frankfurt, the DAX is down 1.3% at 6532.45, with Hypo Real Estate down % following confirmation of a 24.9% stake in the company by J.C. Flowers, and Adidas lower on competitor Nike's cautious outlook. In Paris, the CAC 40 is down 1.2% at 4481.97.
Bunds are higher playing catch-up with the overnight move in Treasurys, while gilts surrender early gains. September bunds are up 0.07 at 110.52 and September gilts are down 0.03 at 104.39.
The dollar is finding some support in Europe even though the policy statement from the U.S. Federal Reserve Wednesday proved less hawkish than many anticipated.
At 1025 GMT, the dollar was down at Y107.65. The euro was up at $1.5715, while the pound was up at $1.9835.
===========================