US stock futures drop on labour costs, Intel

NEW YORK, Sept 6 (Reuters) U.S. stock futures pointed to lower market open on Wednesday after revised data on labour costs stirred inflation concerns and Intel Corp. said it would cut fewer jobs than some investors expected.

Unit labour costs were revised up to a 4.9 percent rise for the second quarter, the Labour Department said, well above economists' median forecast. The sharp increase heightened worries the Federal Reserve may need to raise interest rates to combat inflationary pressures.

''It's a gauge that has been moving up, and there are lingering concerns of inflation and the Federal Reserve,'' said Steve Goldman, a market strategist with Weeden&Co.

Intel stock slipped 1.3 percent to .74 in electronic trading after the chip maker confirmed it will cut a total of 10,500 workers, or 10 percent of its work force, by the middle of next year. The cuts came at the low end of the 9,000 to 15,000 jobs analysts had expected would be shed.

S&P 500 futures were down 6 points, below fair value, a mathematical formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract.

Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 43 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 9 points.

News that Komag Inc., which makes media used in disk drives, cut its quarterly revenue forecast also hurt the market, Goldman said.

ID:nWEN5026 Traders expected Wednesday's session to be the first day of real volume following the summer vacation period.

''The S&P has had a tremendous run and people are coming back from vacation and saying, you know what, this market has been tremendous and it's time to take some profits off the table,'' said Todd Leone, head of listed trading at Cowen&Co.

Shares of Ford Motor Co. rose 4 percent in European trading after the automaker named former Boeing Co. executive Alan Mulally president and chief executive officer on Tuesday.

Citigroup Inc. upgraded Ford's stock, saying Mulally's turnaround experience with Boeing adds credibility to Ford's restructuring.

Nokia shares slid to three-week lows in European trading as speculation persisted the world's biggest handset maker may lower its earnings forecasts.

Sony Corp. said it would delay the European launch of its PlayStation 3 game machine due to inadequate supply of a key component. It was the second time Sony delayed the sale of its PlayStation console, which competes with Microsoft Corp. and Nintendo Co.

Also on Wednesday's calendar are a report on the services sector for last month due at 10 a.m. (1400 GMT) and the Federal Reserve's Beige Book, an anecdotal survey of the economy.

REUTERS DKS BST1903