NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Stocks looked set to open lower Thursday following a pair of economic reports that nearly balanced each other out, as concerns about General Motors continue to plague investors.

U.S. stock futures remained down, indicating a lower opening for stocks, after a manufacturing report came in below estimates but jobless claims were slightly better than expected.

The commerce department said orders for durable goods, a leading indicator of manufacturing activity, fell 2.1 percent in September. Economists had predicted a fall of 1.2 percent, according to Briefing.com.

And the Department of Labor said 328,000 people filed initial claims for unemployment insurance in the week of October 22. Economists had predicted the number would be 340,000, according to Briefing.com.

Futures were lower earlier after GM disclosed the Securities and Exchange Commission has subpoenaed records about a variety of its accounting practices, causing more problems for the already embattled automaker. One of the issues the SEC is looking at is GM's accounting of its liability for retirees' pension and health care obligations.

The statement prompted overnight rumors that world's largest automaker might be forced to file for bankruptcy court protection, a rumor that GM spokesmen flatly denied. Still shares of Dow component GM fell 3 percent in heavy trading in Frankfurt early Thursday.

"It seems to be an extreme overreaction by the markets," said Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wachovia Securities. "From what I've seen, there doesn't appear to be that much behind the SEC subpoena. But pension accounting is awfully complicated and it's an awfully big company, so it's not surprising the markets would get a little spooked by it."

Oil prices were up early Thursday, following a slide on the pledge from President Bush that he would push for legislation to make it easier to build refineries.

The December light crude futures contract for NYMEX gained 55 cents to $61.21 a barrel in electronic trading, while the December contract for Brent crude rose 45 cents to $59.32.

Major markets in Asia closed mixed Thursday. Major European markets were lower in early trading.

Treasury prices were higher, cutting the yield on the 10-year note to 4.56 percent from 4.58 percent late Wednesday. The dollar lost ground against on the euro and the yen. Both markets moved on the GM rumors.

Economic reports due Thursday include the weekly reports on initial jobless claims and natural gas inventories, as well as the readings on durable goods orders and new home sales in September.

An earnings report is due early Thursday from Dow component Exxon Mobil (Research), with analysts looking for a 44 percent jump in profit. After the close, leading software provider Microsoft (Research) will report results, with analysts looking for a slight decline in earnings.

For a more detailed look at the markets before the open, click here.