LONDON (ShareCast) - The main US equity benchmarks are now being called to start the session down by around three tenths of a percentage point on average.
That comes despite calls from three Fed officials, on Wednesday evening, warning that the central bank should beware of moving too quickly on interest rates, lest the economy not be able to withstand the additional burden.

In corporate news, retailer GameStop announced that it will take on approximately 25,000 employees across the country in the run-up to theholiday season.

Contract electronics manufacturer Jabil Circuits announced that it earned 5 cents a share in the fourth quarter, on sales of $4.1bn. The company's shares gained 4%.

Chemicals outfit HB Fuller was down 5% after releasing weaker than expected results after the market close on Wednesday.

Yahoo informed the market regulator that it has entered into a one-year lock-up period on the remaining stock in Alibaba which it still holds.

Initial weekly US unemployment claims slipped by 8,000 to reach 293,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The consensus estimate had been for a reading of 296,000.

US durable goods orders plummeted by 18.2% month-on-month in August (consensus: -18%), figures from the Commerce Department revealed.

Excluding orders from the transportation sector however orders of goods meant to last three years or more increased 0.7% month-on-month (consensus: 0.6%), while the previous month's numbers were also revised higher.

Front month West Texas crude futures are up by 0.71% to $93.46 on the NYMEX.

US 10-year bond yields are down by three basis points to 2.54%.

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