5 Things You Should Know Before the Stock Market Opens

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- U.S. stock futures were pointing to a lower open for Wall Street Thursday after the Federal Reserve lowered its outlook for U.S. economic growth.

The central bank on Wednesday announced it would prolong its Operation Twist bond maturity extension program but failed to come through with a third round of quantitative easing, the kind of stimulus markets were hoping for.

The Fed did say it was prepared to take "further action as appropriate" to promote a stronger economic recovery and sustained improvement in the labor market.

U.S. stocks ended mixed Wednesday as investors expressed disappointment over the Fed's moves. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 13 points, or 0.10%, to close at 12,824.

European stocks were lower Thursday, while Asian stocks finished the trading session mixed. Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 0.9% to 8,824.07.

The economic calendar in the U.S. Thursday includes weekly initial and continuing jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. EDT, and existing home sales for May, the Philadelphia Fed survey on manufacturing activity in the region for June, leading indicators for May and the Federal Housing Finance Agency's housing price index for April, all at 10 a.m.

Johnson & Johnson(JNJ) and the Justice Department are close to settling an investigation into the company's alleged improper promotion of the antipsychotic Risperdal, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The two sides are discussing a payment of at least $1.5 billion, some of the people told the newspaper.

The settlement would be one of the highest sums to date in a drug-marketing case, the Journal said.

Red Hat (RHT) beat Wall Street's first-quarter profit expectations but it posted weak billings and provided second-quarter guidance slightly below estimates.

Billings, defined as revenue plus the change in deferred revenue, came in at $310 million. Wall Street was expecting $319 million, according to Mizuho Securities analyst Abhey Lamba, who has a buy rating on the stock.