U.S. stock index futures were down with about an hour before markets open

Jobs, ouch

RTGAM


Global stock market indexes on Wednesday were unable to follow through on widespread gains on Tuesday, falling after investors were hit will more gloomy economic news.


U.S. stock index futures were down with about an hour before markets open, suggesting that stocks will fall at the start of trading. Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average fell 155 points, to 8,277. Futures for the S&P 500 fell 18 points, to 831.


In Europe, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was down 0.9 per cent and Germany's DAX index was down 1.8 per cent in afternoon trading. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.8 per cent in overnight trading.


Research In Motion Ltd. said on Tuesday that its third-quarter earnings will come in at a high of 83 cents (U.S.) a share, far below the 97 cents that analysts have been expecting. The BlackBerry maker also reported on Wednesday morning that it is making a hostile bid for Certicom Corp., valued at $1.50 a share. RIM shares fell $3.02, to $34.30, in premarket activity in New York.


Meanwhile, the employment picture in the United States is turning gloomier. The ADO Employer Services estimated that U.S. companies shed 250,000 jobs in November - the biggest monthly decline since 2001 and far more than the 205,000 lost jobs that economists had been expecting. As well, the job losses in October were revised upward to 179,000 from 157,000.


"The details show job losses accelerating at small and medium-sized firms, with bigger employers no worse than October - which was bad enough," said Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, in a note. "The sector data show accelerating payroll declines in both manufacturing and services; there is nowhere to hide."