Tech stocks pace pre-market slide; econ data as expected

U.S. stocks are expected to open lower, extending Wednesday’s downside rout as tech stocks were on the defensive overnight and banking shares remain on wobbly footing despite decent results from JP Morgan. A fresh batch of economic data on jobless claims and inflation was basically in line with expectations and appeared to be somewhat supportive to stocks. The Dow is expected to open down 50 points, while the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) is seen down 0.6%, near 450.50.

The weekly claims report came in at 524,000, which was near the projection of 520,000. Meanwhile, the PPI number was at minus 1.9%, also reasonably close to the consensus guess of minus 2.0%. In addition, the NY Manufacturing survey was at -22, slightly better than the forecast of -25. Stock index futures initially moved moderately higher off the economic headlines.

Technology bellwether Apple Inc. (Nasdaq:AAPL) was off some 7% in pre-market trading amid reports that CEO Steve Jobs would take a medical leave of absence. Elsewhere on the tech front, Intel Corp. (Nasdaq:INTC) is slated to release results today and the stock was off about 1% in European trading.

JP Morgan Chase and Co. (NYSE:JPM) reported better-than-expected earnings results, and the stock took turns rallying and retreating in pre-market trading. Despite the bullish JPM profit news, bank stocks in general were a major drag on the market Wednesday and could trouble again today with Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) saying they need more capital to absorb the Merrill Lynch operation.

In overseas action, Europe shares were off, with the U.K. small-cap index down about 1.3% despite a 50-bp rate cut from the European Central Bank, which . . .

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