MARKET SNAPSHOT: U.S. Stocks: Futures Lower Before Housing, Netflix, UnitedHealth In Focus

By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

ECB's Nowotny: Don't get 'overexcited' about Thursday

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures fell slightly Wednesday, turning lower after downbeat comments from a European Central Bank council member, with investors looking ahead to housing data.

Reporting early was health-insurance heavyweight UnitedHealth Group Inc., while Netflix (NFLX) was surging in thin premarket after Tuesday results.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJH5) fell 40 points, or 0.2%, to 17,421, and those for the S&P 500 index (SPH5) slipped 1.8 points to 2,015. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 (NDH5) lost 5.75 point to 4,163.25.

The small dips tracked a fall in European equities , which came after Ewald Nowotny said people "should not get overexcited" about Thursday's meeting of the ECB, where he is a member of the governing council. Investors are anticipating that the central bank will outline a plan for sovereign bond-buying at the event, in an effort to boost inflation levels. But policy makers and central bankers should be centered on longer-term views, Nowotny said.

Worries about lower inflation and slowing global growth dogged U.S. stocks on Tuesday. Stocks ended that chopping trading session with only minor gains, leaving the S&P 500 (SPX) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) each up about 3 points. The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) climbed 20 points, or 0.4%, driven largely by Apple Inc. (AAPL).

The U.S. corporate earnings season will continue to roll on Wednesday with UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH) expected to report a rise in fourth-quarter earnings to $1.50 a share. Markets showed little reaction to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address.

In State of the Union, Obama makes middle-class pitch

At 8:30 a.m., housing starts for December will be released by the Commerce Department, and analysts polled by FactSet are looking for an increase to 1.04 million from 1.03 million in the previous month.

Stocks to watch: Microsoft Corp.(MSFT) will unveil its next version of Windows, slated to launch later this year.

UnitedHealth(UNH) was up about 2% in thin, premarket trading after posting a rise in quarterly profit that beat forecasts.

Netflix(NFLX) is up about 16% after the video-streaming service provider beat Wall Street's profit view and gave an upbeat outlook for net subscriber additions.

BHP Billiton Ltd.(BHP) flagged a sharp reduction in U.S. drilling activity, as well as up to $250 million in write-downs on its petroleum business.

Other markets: In Asia, Chinese stocks surged nearly 5%, but Japan's Nikkei Average slipped. Oil futures (CLH5) were up 1% and gold futures (GCF5) rose more than $6 an ounce, after touching $1,300-an-ounce previously.

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