REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange October 13, 2008.
Dow futures are down 111 points, S&P 500 futures are down 13 points, and Nasdaq futures are down 30 points.
U.S. stocks are taking their lead from stocks around the world, as markets in Asia overnight slumped and stocks in Europe are lower.
In London, the FTSE 100 is down 0.2%, while the CAC in Paris is down 1% and Germany's DAX is down 1.2%.
Last night, Argentina defaulted on $1.3 billion worth of debt owed to a group of hedge fund creditors. This is the country's second debt default since 2001.
Troubled Portuguese bank Banco Espirito Santo reported a $3.6 billion loss and suspended staff because of "harmful management" linked to the bank's exposure to certain Espirito Santo family holdings.
In U.S. economic news, initial jobless claims came in in-line with expectations at 302,000, as the four-week moving average of initial claims fell to its lowest level since April 15, 2006.
Corporate earnings are still rolling in, with some of the notable stock movers following their reports including Whole Foods, which was down 5% in pre-market trade after reporting sales that missed expectations.
Shares of Yelp were also down 4% after the company last night reported that it turned a profit for the first time since going public.
Yum! Brands was down 6% in pre-market trade after the company last night disclosed that it is the subject of an investigation fro regulators in China after reports surfaced of improper handling practices by one of its chicken suppliers in the country. Yum! said it's not sure if this probe will effect its results.
Last night, Samsung reported that profit in the second quarter declined due to falling smartphone sales. Samsung blamed competition from other smartphone makers and blamed increased costs in the production of its flagship Galaxy S5 phone.