Stock index futures cut losses in a volatile session on Thursday as a speech outlining austerity measures aimed at stemming Europe's debt crisis by Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti took the pressure off European bond yields.

S&P 500 futures fell 3.4 points and were below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration of the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures were off 14 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures lost 5.75 points.

(Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)