U.S. stocks futures fell on Thursday, as U.S. retailers, including Wal-Mart, reported January sales figures lower than predicted.

Wal Mart saw a 0.5% increase in same store sales, excluding fuel, well below the 2% expectations.

As well, the tech sector is anxious about low earnings forecasts from Cisco Systems Inc.

There are no major economic releases from Statistics Canada today.

The U.S. Federal Reserve releases its report on consumer credit in December 2007 at 10 a.m.

The Bank of England cut its key interest rate by a quarter point to 5.25%, while the European Central Bank is expected to keep rates on hold.

The Canadian dollar opened at 99.2¢ US this morning, down 0.19 of a cent from yesterdays’ close.

In earnings news, pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline reported a 12% profit decrease and forecasted falling earnings for 2008 as well.

Thomson Corp. announced it is raising its dividend by 10% after net income increased to US$4 billion from $1.12 billion.

Here at home, Air Canada reported a fourth-quarter profit of $35 million, reversing a $144-million loss a year ago.

Crude oil futures rose 10 cents at $87.24 a barrel in premarket trading on the Nymex.

Many Asian stock markets were closed for Lunar New Year holidays.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 ended up 0.8%.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 declined 2%. The German DAX 30 index slipped 1.6%. In Paris, the CAC-40 index moved down 1.7%.

In Toronto, tech and energy sectors pulled markets down yesterday, as concerns over the U.S. economy outweighed any push from positive earnings from the likes of BCE and Enbridge.

The S&P/TSX Composite index ended the session down 64.75 points, or 0.50%, at 12,867.20.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index closed down 4.31 points, or 0.17%, at 2,505.66.

In New York, markets rebounded early Wednesday, but an afternoon warning against overzealous rate cuts from a state Federal Reserve president cut the rally short.

The Dow shed 65.03 points, or 0.53%, to close out at 12,200.10.

The S&P 500 lost 10.19 points, or 0.76%, and ended the session at 1,326.45

And the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 30.82 points, or 1.33%, to finish at 2,278.75.