U.S. stocks were set to fall for a fourth day on Thursday, following steep losses in the previous session, as concerns over blasts in Madrid looked likely to offset optimism from in-line jobs and sales data. The blasts at three Madrid train stations on Thursday morning killed 173 at the latest count and injured 600. Initially, authorities suspected Basque separatist group ETA, which is listed as a terrorist group by the United States and European Union. "The blasts in Madrid, coupled with the extremely negative action we had yesterday on Wall Street is making everybody a little nervous this morning," said Tom Schrader, managing director of U.S. equity trading at Legg Mason Wood Walker. "I would say its going to be a down day." European shares fell by about 3 percent after the Madrid blasts. Government data showing that initial weekly jobless claims fell and retail sales rose, broadly in-line with economists' forecasts, failed to raise U.S. stock futures before the bell, with contracts on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> down about 0.7 percent, below fair value, pointing to a lower open.
"The Madrid terrorist attack will instill more fear in the market," said John Person, head financial analyst of Infinity Brokerage Services. "Fear is usually a catalyst for selling." The number of Americans filing initial claims for jobless aid fell about 6,000 to 341,000 in the week ended March 6, the Labor Department said early on Thursday. U.S. retail sales rose 0.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted $327.17 billion in February, in line with Wall Street's forecasts, the Commerce Department said. Excluding autos, the data was flat.////