Wall Street futures mixed; eyes on oil data

 FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Futures on two of the three leading stock market indexes fell before the start of Wall Street trading on Thursday, with the focus on economic and oil inventory data as no S&P 500 firms are due to report results.

At 4:45 a.m. EST, Dow Jones futures traded 0.2 percent lower and S&P 500 futures were down 0.1 percent, while Nasdaq futures rose 0.1 percent.

The indicative Dow Jones index, which tracks how the Dow stocks are trading in Frankfurt, was 0.1 percent lower.

"All eyes will be on U.S. durable goods orders, initial jobless claims as well as consumer sentiment," Heino Ruland, an analyst at FrankfurtFinanz, said in a daily note to clients.

 The durable goods orders for November and jobless claims for the week ended December 22 are due at 8:30 a.m. EST, followed by consumer confidence for December at 10:00 a.m. EST.

Referring to the durable goods data, Italian bank UniCredit said U.S. core capital goods orders have been contracting over the past three months, "hinting that firms are increasingly careful in planning capital expenditures. We expect a partial rebound in November, even though momentum is generally fading."

"We expect further softening in the ... consumer confidence index, on the back of high food and energy prices, worries about job losses, and a more erratic stock market," UniCredit added.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration's weekly petroleum stocks and output data are due at 10:30 a.m. EST. The inventories are expected to show that crude stocks fell by 1 million barrels as bad weather in Texas and the Gulf slowed imports.

U.S. crude oil was near $96 a barrel, with Brent at $93.70.

U.S. stocks in the spotlight could include student loan provider Sallie Mae <SLM.N>, which fell more than 5 percent in extended trading on Wednesday after the company said it plans to sell about $2.5 billion of stock and mandatory convertible securities to help pay off derivatives contracts that amounted to a bet that its share price would keep increasing.

Salli Mae's Frankfurt-listed shares <SLM.F> were up 2.5 percent at 4:45 a.m. EST.

Shares of Cirrus Logic <CRUS.O> rose 8.1 percent after the closing bell on Wednesday after Soros Fund Management reported in a regulatory filing that it holds a 5.18 percent stake in the chip maker.

Cirrus shares traded more than 6 percent higher in Frankfurt <CRUS.F>.

U.S. stocks ended little changed on Wednesday after discount retailer Target Inc <TGT.N> cut its sales forecast, offsetting gains in major energy companies as oil hit a one-month high.

The Dow Jones industrial average edged up 0.02 percent, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 0.08 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.40 percent.

(Reporting by Peter Starck; Editing by David Cowell)