Stocks set for early slump

Stocks were poised to fall at the opening bell, led by weakness in overseas markets and worries about the economy, with declines worsening after a worse-than-expected jobless claims report.

Dow Jones industrial average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were all lower.

Despite posting gains early in the session, stocks ended mixed Wednesday after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged near 0%, saying market conditions were helping the recovery but weakness will remain.

Marc Chandler, chief foreign exchange strategist for Brown Brothers Harriman, said that markets were "jittery" after the Fed statement.

However, he added that most of the early weakness on Wall Street was stemming from reports about Greece being downgraded by S&P. That follows a recent downgrade from Fitch, after healthcare companies complained that Greece was behind on payments related to its public health system.

Chandler said those downgrades and persistent economy worries are driving up the dollar to its highest point versus the euro since September, and its highest point against the pound since October.

"Santa Clause is giving a little present to people like me, who are dollar bulls," said Chandler.

Chandler said that concerns could carry extra weight amid "very thin" volume ahead of the holidays.

Economy: The Labor Department reported its weekly tally of jobless claims, which was higher than expected.

Jobless claims rose by 7,000 to 480,000 in the week ended Dec. 12. Analysts had estimated that the number of American filing first-time claims will fall to 465,000, according to Briefing.com consensus.

The November index of leading economic indicators, from the Conference Board, is due out shortly after the start of trading. LEI is expected to have risen 0.7% after rising 0.3% in October.

The Philadelphia Fed index, a regional read on manufacturing, is expected to have fallen to 16.0 in December from 16.7 in November.

The Senate Banking Committee will be voting on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's confirmation.

Companies: Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) said late Wednesday it intends to raise $20.5 billion in the stock market in a plan to payback its bailout funds. The New York-based lender said it will offer 5.4 billion shares of common stock priced at $3.15 per share to raise $17 billion. Citigroup will also offer 35 million "tangible equity units" for $100 each to raise the remaining $3.5 billion.

Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) appointed senior executive Brian Moynihan as its new chief executive officer. Moynihan, 50, is currently the president of consumer and small business banking at the nation's largest bank.

Exiting CEO Ken Lewis surprised Bank of America's board of directors when he announced his plans to retire in September.

Before the start of Thursday trading, package-delivery firm FedEx (FDX, Fortune 500) reported earnings of $1.10 per diluted share for the second quarter, ended Nov. 30, down from a year ago's $1.58.

FedEx issued cautious guidance on the third quarter of 50 to 70 cents per diluted share. This falls short of 84 cents EPS, which was the forecast from Thomson Reuters. The stock price slipped in pre-market trading.

After the close Thursday, Oracle (ORCL, Fortune 500) is expected to report a profit of 36 cents per share versus 34 cents a year ago.

World Markets: Stocks in Asia ended mixed, with Tokyo's Nikkei index falling 0.13% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index off 1.22%. European indexes were also trading lower.

Currency and commodities: The dollar was higher against major international currencies, including the euro, the yen and the pound.

Crude oil for January delivery fell 66 cents to $72 a barrel.

Gold for February delivery plunged $21.80 to $1,113.70 an ounce.