Stock futures point to weaker start for Wall Street

Bank of America Corp on Wednesday tapped insider Brian Moynihan as its new chief executive, ending months of speculation about who would succeed Kenneth Lewis to lead the largest U.S. bank.

The U.S. Treasury delayed a plan to sell its $5 billion of Citigroup shares after a stock offering by the bank attracted weak demand and priced at a much lower-than-expected $3.15 a share.

Citigroup shares in Frankfurt were down 7 percent.

Exxon Mobil Corp said it can pull out of its $30 billion acquisition of XTO Energy if U.S. lawmakers pass legislation restricting a controversial drilling technique used to tap oil and gas fields.

Bailed-out American International Group plans to file a prospectus for a multi-billion-dollar IPO of its Asian life insurance unit before Christmas, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday narrowly approved a $155 billion measure that seeks to create jobs and blunt the impact of the worst recession since the 1930s.

The head of Japan's automaking lobby said on Thursday he feared that the U.S. market would remain weak and would not reach total sales of 11 million vehicles next year.

Corporate results due include Oracle and General Mills .

Weekly jobless claims, leading indicators for November and Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank business activity survey are among the economic indicators to be released on Thursday.

Johnson & Johnson said on Wednesday it would pay $785 million in cash to acquire privately-held Acclarent Inc and its sinus-surgery technology.

Boeing Co has received a $704.4 million U.S. Army contract to build 21 new and 14 remanufactured Ch-47F Chinook helicopters, the Defense Department said on Wednesday.

China has chosen aircraft engine maker CFM International, a joint venture between General Electric and France's Safran , to power a future rival to the Airbus and Boeing 737 jets, France's Les Echos newspaper said.

First Solar Inc forecast on Wednesday higher-than-expected 2010 sales and said it plans to boost solar module production capacity in Malaysia [ID:nN16126556]. Its shares trading in Frankfurt were up 2.7 percent.

China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, a preferred bidder for Ford Motor's Volvo car unit, said it had signed up Johnson Controls as its global auto parts supplier.

Japan's Nikkei average <.N225> ended down 0.1 percent on Thursday, slipping from seven-week highs hit earlier in the day, as investors pocketed profits on a rally in big banks. In Europe, the FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index slipped 0.4 percent.

U.S. stocks finished flat to slightly higher on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve reiterated its intention to keep interest rates low for the foreseeable future to ensure a sustainable economic recovery.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> slipped 10.88 points, or 0.10 percent, to end at 10,441.12. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> gained 1.25 points, or 0.11 percent, to end at 1,109.18. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> added 5.86 points, or 0.27 percent, to end at 2,206.91.

(Reporting by Dominic Lau; editing by John Stonestreet)