U.S. futures mixed in cautious trade; Dow Jones up 0.04%

Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a mixed open on Thursday, as investors remained cautious amid renewed expectations for further stimulus measures by global central banks.

Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.04% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.09% loss, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.13% gain.

Sentiment found support after data showing that China's annual consumer inflation fell to a 30-month low in July added to speculation that the country’s central bank may implement further monetary easing.

Meanwhile, investors were also eyeing the ECB, amid expectations it will soon take steps to help lower Spanish and Italian borrowing costs after the bank indicated last week that it may restart its bond buying program.

In the U.S., a Federal Reserve official kept alive hopes for central bank intervention by saying earlier in the week that the Fed should launch an aggressive bond-buying program to aid the economy until unemployment begins to fall.

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp was expected to be active on Thursday, as it posted a quarterly loss the previous day after taking USD2.85 billion of non-cash restructuring and impairment charges that overshadowed growth at its cable networks.

The news sent the company’s shares down 3.46% in after hour trade.

Also in earnings news, SunPower Corp dove 12.58% in late trading, although it posted better-than-expected second-quarter results on Wednesday. The company disappointed market expectations however by forecasting a loss in the current quarter.

Meanwhile, Best Buy declined 0.30% after hours, amid reports several private equity firms that have been approached to join in a buyout of the U.S. retailer are sitting on the fence, citing the lack of a tangible plan by the company’s founder Richard Schulze.

Elsewhere in company news, Research in Motion was expected to move on Thursday, after a U.S. judge ruled that the company had not infringed on Mformation Technologies Inc's patent and overturned an award of USD147.2 million that a jury said the Canadian firm should pay.

Zynga was also set to be in the spotlight, a day after the resignation of its chief operating officer John Schappert. Shares tumbled 1.97% in pre-market trade.

Other stocks likely to be in focus included aircraft giant Boeing, down 0.47% in early trading, after damage to a spinning shaft inside a General Electric jet engine was reportedly uncovered by U.S. investigators probing a malfunction during a test run of a Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliner.

First-flight preparations were under way on a 787 due for delivery to Air India when the incident occurred July 28 near Boeing’s Charleston, South Carolina, factory.

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were lower. The EURO STOXX 50 dropped 0.34%, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.18%, Germany's DAX retreated 0.60%, while Britain's FTSE 100 eased 0.07%.

During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 1.02%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index climbed 1.1%.

Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on the trade balance and initial jobless claims.