US STOCKS-Futures fall with focus on jobless claims data

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* Futures down: Dow 0.99%, S&P 1.08%, Nasdaq 1.60%

By Medha Singh
Oct 15 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures dropped on
Thursday as investors braced for weekly jobless claims, which
could compound fears of a stalling economic recovery a day after
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin dashed hopes for more fiscal
aid before the election.
The Labor Department's data is expected to show the number
of Americans filing for state unemployment benefits eased to
825,000 last week from 840,000, but still remain at a high level
as the labor market struggled to recover from the damage
inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hopes of another round of fiscal aid to support the U.S.
economy's recovery helped fuel Wall Street's recent rally,
bringing the S&P 500 and Nasdaq earlier this week to within 2%
of their record closing highs from Sept. 2.
Focus is also on corporate America where expectations for
third-quarter earnings have improved to a 18.9% drop from a
25.0% tumble forecast on July 1, according to Refinitiv IBES
data.
Morgan Stanley MS.N fell 0.8% in premarket trading ahead
of its results which would wrap up earnings from major Wall
Street lenders. Other companies scheduled to report are
Honeywell International Inc HON.N , Charles Schwab Corp
SCHW.N and Walgreens Boot Alliance Inc WBA.N .
At 6:19 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were down 280 points,
or 0.99% and S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 37.75 points, or
1.08%.
Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were down 191 points, or 1.6%, as
tech heavyweights such as Apple Inc AAPL.O , Microsoft Corp
MSFT.O and Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O shed between 1.6% and 2.5%.
Shares of drug developer Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc VRTX.O
sank 9.4% premarket after it discontinued its trial of a protein
deficiency disorder treatment.