US Stock Futures Slightly Down Ahead Of Jobless Claims Data; Apple Shares Drop In Pre-Market

US stock futures are slightly lower this morning, as investors are awaiting jobless claims data. Shares of Apple Inc (NASDAQ:

) dropped about 4.5% in pre-market trading following the resignation of Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 12 points to 11,256 and S&P 500 index futures fell 3.10 points to 1,168.90. Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 16.50 points to 2,122.50. US stocks closed higher on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 1.29% to 11,320.71, the S&P 500 index rising 1.31% to 1,177.60 and the Nasdaq 100 index surging 0.88% to 2,467.69. The Labor Department is scheduled to release weekly jobless claims data at 8:30 a.m. ET. Apple Inc announced the resignation of its Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs. He is succeeded by Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook. Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:

) is estimated to report its Q3 EPS at $0.35 on revenue of $1.87 billion. Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc (NYSE:

) is expected to report its Q2 EPS at $0.06 on revenue of $92.26 million. Fred's Inc (NASDAQ:

) is estimated to report its Q2 EPS at $0.13 on revenue of $456.43 million. Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:

) is projected to report its Q2 EPS at $0.59 on revenue of $766.76 million. Pandora Media Inc (NYSE:

) is estimated to report its latest quarter EPS at $0.00 on revenue of $60.26 million. Sanderson Farms Inc (NASDAQ:

) is expected to post a Q3 loss at $0.68 per share on revenue of $521.35 million. Regis Corporation (NYSE:

) is projected to report its Q4 EPS at $0.30 on revenue of $589.10 million. Guess Inc (NYSE:

) reported its FQ2 net profit at $60.7 million, or $0.65 per share, down from $66.8 million, or $0.72 per share, in the year-ago period. Its revenue climbed 17% to $677.2 million from $577.1 million. Excluding one-time items, Guess' earnings came in at $0.84 per share. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.81 per share on revenue of $656.4 million. Guess projects Q3 earnings of $0.71 to $0.74 per share, versus analysts' estimates of $0.84 per share. Collective Brands Inc (NYSE:

) swung to a second-quarter loss of $35 million, or $0.58 per share, from a profit of $21 million, or $0.32 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding one-time items, Collective Brands' earnings came in at $0.16 per share. Its revenue climbed to $882.4 million from $841.3 million. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $0.12 per share on revenue of $866.2 million. The company also announced its plans to close about 475 underperforming stores over the next three years. European markets were mostly higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 0.24%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.18%, French CAC 40 index rose 0.49% and German DAX 30 index gained 0.53%. Asian markets ended mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average surging 1.54%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 1.06% and China's Shanghai Composite rising 2.92%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1.4676% and India's Sensex dipped 0.72%. Gold futures dropped, with gold for December delivery down $46.10 to $1,711.20 in electronic trade. The euro gained 0.08% against the dollar to trade at $1.4427, versus $1.4422 on Tuesday.