The wait for another set of housing sales numbers will keep investors on edge ahead of Thursday's U.S. stock open.At 8:40 a.m. ET, futures for both Nasdaq and the S&P pointed to a slightly higher start.The Census Bureau is set to report new home sales figures for July after the market open. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com forecast that those sales fell to an annual rate of 1.11 million from 1.13 million in June.On Wednesday, the National Association of Realtors reported a sharper-than-expected decline in the pace of existing home sales, along with rising inventories and weaker prices.Signs of a sharply weaker real estate market have raised concerns about a slowdown in the overall U.S. economy. While new home sales are a fraction of existing home sales, Thursday's report is more forward-looking because it considers the transaction at an earlier stage in the sales process.A government report showed durable goods orders dropping 2.4 percent in July, steeper than the forecasted 0.9 percent decline, and another report showed 313,000 filings for initial jobless claims last week, roughly in line with forecasts.But Anthony Chan, chief economist for JPMorgan Private Client Services, said that the volatility of the durable goods reading and the strong focus on housing meant those pre-market reports would take a back seat to the new home sales report in the eyes of investors."We see good evidence out there that the manufacturing sector is holding its own; it's not in danger of the meltdown like housing," said Chan. He said there is growing concerns among investors that the economy is in worse shape than previously thought and that the Federal Reserve waited too long to end its course of interest rate hikes."If the home sales number is troublesome to the downside, it heightens the importance of (Ben) Bernanke's comments tomorrow (Friday)," said Chan, referring to a speech planned by the Fed chairman.Major markets in Asia closed lower Thursday on concerns about a slowdown in the U.S. economy, while markets in Europe were up in early trading.Oil was mixed, with U.S. light crude down 12 cents to $71.64 a barrel in electronic trading and Brent crude in London 7 cents higher at $72.09.Treasury prices were little changed; the yield on the 10-year note stood around 4.81 percent. The dollar was lower against the euro and the yen in early trading.In corporate news, drugstore chain Rite Aid (Charts) said it has reached a deal with Canada's Jean Coutu Group Inc. to acquire the Eckerd and Brooks drugstore chains for around $3.4 billion in cash, stock and debtMike Roberts, president and chief operating officer of McDonald's (Charts), resigned from the company, the fast food chain announced late Wednesday. Roberts had been seen as a likely successor to CEO Jim Skinner, who is 61. Ralph Alvarez, president of McDonald's North America, was named to Roberts' former posts.Apple Computer (Charts) announced late Wednesday it will pay $100 million for a license to use Creative's patented technology in its iPod music player, removing concerns about that litigation for its investors.
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