Investing.com - U.S. stock markets pointed to heavy losses at the open on Thursday, joining a global market selloff, as investors shunned risk and crude extended losses.
The blue-chip Dow futures dropped 290 points, or 1.82%, by 11:15GMT, or 6:15AM ET, the S&P 500 futures sank 35 points, or 1.85%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures slumped 83 points, or 2.08%.
The S&P 500 ended flat on Wednesday, losing gains late in the session as investors digested comments by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen. The Dow and S&P posted their fourth straight day of losses while the Nasdaq ended its three-day down streak.
Fed Chair Yellen said Wednesday that financial conditions have become less supportive to growth as foreign developments pose risks to the economic outlook, but also maintained that moderate growth at home would justify "gradual adjustments" to the Fed's monetary policy stance.
Yellen is scheduled to appear before the Senate Banking Committee at 15:00GMT, or 10:00AM ET, Thursday.
U.S. oil futures tumbled below the $27-level to re-approach the lowest level in almost 13 years on Thursday, as record crude inventories at the Cushing delivery hub underlined concerns over a supply glut.
U.S. crude was last down $1.03, or 3.73%, at $26.42 a barrel in early New York trade, while Brent declined 50 cents, or 1.62%, to $30.35.
Elsewhere, European stocks slumped to the lowest level since October 2013, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell in its worst start to a lunar new year since 1994 as trading resumed for the first time this week.
The gloom pervading markets bolstered the allure of safe haven assets, such as the Japanese yen, gold and government debt.
The greenback crashed to a fresh 15-month low against the yen, with USD/JPY hit lows of 111.00, before pulling back to trade at 111.55, off 1.55% for the day.
Meanwhile, gold futures jumped to $1,230, the highest level since May, while U.S., German and U.K. sovereign bond prices surged, as anxiety over slowing growth, weak oil prices and tighter credit markets spurred a flight to safety.
Among active pre-market movers, Mylan (O:MYL) shares plunged 10.8% after the generic drugmaker said it would acquire Swedish pharmaceutical firm Meda AB in a $7.2 billion cash-and-stock deal.
Twitter (N:TWTR) slumped 6.5% to an all-time low after it failed to show any user growth in an earnings report for the first time in its history.
Meanwhile, U.S.-listed shares of European banks, such as Credit Suisse (VX:CSGN), Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) and Barclays (L:BARC), each crashed more than 5%, while U.S. lenders, like Goldman Sachs (N:GS) and JPMorgan Chase & Co (N:JPM), were also under pressure.
On the data front, the U.S. is to release the weekly report on initial jobless claims at 13:30GMT, or 8:30AM ET.