US STOCKS SNAPSHOT-Futures pare losses after weekly unemployment report

U.S. stock index futures pared losses sharply on Thursday despite the Labor Department's data showing weekly unemployment claims soared to 3.3 million last week from 282,000 a week earlier.

At 8:31 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 238 points, or 1.13%. S&P 500 e-minis were down 35.75 points, or 1.45% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 79.75 points, or 1.07%.

Moment before the data, Dow e-minis were down 468 points, or 2.23%. S&P 500 e-minis were down 59 points, or 2.39% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 145.25 points, or 1.95%.