US STOCKS-Futures point to lower Wall St open on growth worries

By Ryan Vlastelica

NEW YORK, Oct 10 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Friday, putting major indexes on track for a sharply lower week as Thursday's decline on global growth concerns looked to be extended.

The S&P 500 posted its biggest one-day slide in six months on Thursday on concerns over tepid growth in the world economy and its potential impact on corporate earnings.

The benchmark index closed below its 150-day moving average for the first time since November 2012, a sign that near-term trends are weaker. The next technical level in view is the S&P's 200-day moving average, which at 1,904.84 is 1.2 percent below Thursday's close.

"All eyes will be on the 200-day moving average" today, said Jonathan Krinsky, chief market technician at MKM Partners in Greenwich, Connecticut, adding that the index would test that level before the current pullback ends.

"At that point we can evaluate the structure to determine a bigger pullback is at hand."

Recent declines were spurred by weak data from Germany, Europe's largest economy, as well as comments from a Fed official who suggested investors had unrealistic expectations about the Fed's eventual rate increase.

Recent strength in the dollar - which is down 1.1 percent this week but is coming off a 12-week rally - has contributed to concerns about earnings for multinational companies, though some early results, including from Alcoa Inc (NYSE: AA - news) and PepsiCo Inc (NYSE: PEP - news) , were stronger than expected.

Energy shares will remain in focus as crude oil fell 2 percent to $84.06 per barrel, dropping to its lowest level since July 2012. The energy sector has been among the hardest hit in the recent market decline, falling 3.7 percent on Thursday. It is off almost 16 percent from a recent high in June. The Energy Select Sector SPDR exchange-traded fund fell 0.6 percent to $84.26 in premarket trading.

Despite a massive rally Wednesday, indexes remain sharply lower for the week. Based on Thursday's close, the Dow is down 2.1 percent this week, the S&P is down 2 percent and the Nasdaq is down 2.2 percent. If the decline implied by futures lasts through the trading day, the S&P may extend its weekly decline to its worst weekly performance since June 2012.

Futures snapshot at 0843 EDT:

* S&P 500 e-minis were falling 5.75 points, or 0.3 percent, with 394,690 contracts changing hands.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 33.25 points, or 0.84 percent, in volume of 68,810 contracts.

* Dow e-minis were down 58 points, or 0.35 percent, with 57,856 contracts changing hands. (Editing by Bernadette Baum)