Jobless Claims Report Likely to Weigh On Stocks;Financials like Citigroup (C) Under Pressure

A report from the Labor Department on Thursday showing that first-time filings for unemployment insurance rose more than expected could weigh on stocks today.

Initial jobless claims rose by 7,000 to 480,000 in the week ended Dec. 12, from a downward-revised 473,000 the prior week. Analysts had predicted a drop to 465,000.

Standard & Poor's Index Futures were down nearly 1% at 9 a.m. ET after the news.

Financials are also expected to suffer today, after Citigroup (NYSE:C) on Wednesday dumped $17 billion in equity on the market at a price so low, that the government was obliged to postpone the sale of part its stake in the bank.

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) may buck the trend, as its board appointed insider Brian Moynihan as CEO on Wednesday.