March 18, 2010 1:04 PM EDT
Futures on U.S. stock indices erased losses to trade mostly flat ahead of the opening of the stock market on Thursday after a report showed declining unemployment claims.
Earlier, shares slipped on tensions linked to a Europe-led Greece bailout.
Futures on the S&P 500 Index are up 0.06 percent at 8:48 a.m. EST and futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average are down 0.07 percent.
At 8:30 a.m. EST, the Department of Labor reported that U.S. unemployment was 457,000 for the week ending March 13, a decline of 5,000 from last week. Economists polled by Bloomberg expected 455,000.
Investors cheered this sign of a stabilizing job market as stock futures rallied immediately after the report.
Earlier, Greece debt woes took center stage on reports that Greece may turn to the IMF for help instead of relying on euro zone members.
The EUR/USD pair and futures on the S&P 500 declined on the concerns and European markets opened lower, although most have pared the earlier losses.
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Xinhua News reported growing discontent from Greeks regarding a Europe-led bailout as a gathering of Europe finance ministers earlier this week produced no concrete results.
"Greece today has a possibility of up to 70 percent to turn to IMF," economic minister Louka Katseli said.
"If we will be offered again loans on 6.5 percent interest rates, why we should not turn to IMF? Europeans must realize that we are not the culprits, but the victims," far Right LAOS party leader Giorgos Karazaferis added.
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