NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - U.S. stock futures were mixed and the dollar was weak early Thursday as investors turned their focus from the war in Iraq to the weakness in the U.S. economy.

At 8:00 a.m. ET, futures pointed to a flat start for the major indexes. European markets were weaker, adding a global pull to U.S. stocks, while gold prices drifted higher and oil declined.

For the two months leading up to war and the first three weeks of the war, investors had been focused primarily on developments in Iraq, trading alternately on optimism or pessimism about the timeline of the war and reacting emotionally to news and rumors. But a fatigue has set in for the last week, as the daily reports have made it clear that the war is basically over and the weak U.S. economy remains a drag on stocks.

"Iraq is no longer a factor," Mitsuo Imaizumi, deputy general manager of the international bond and forex department at Daiwa Securities SMBC told Reuters. "The U.S. economy is not looking good. I expect corporate results will be poor."

Later in the session, investors will take in a fewe key measures of the economy, when weekly jobless claims, the February trade balance and monthly retail sales reports are due.

Click here for details of Wednesday's selloff

European markets were mixed to lower at midday. The FTSE 100 fell 0.26 percent, while the FTSE Eurotop 300 index of pan-European blue chips was down 1.11 percent.

Asian-Pacific stocks ended mixed, with Tokyo's Nikkei finishing below 8,000 on weakness in electronics makers Sony and Matsushita.

Treasury bond prices declined, sending the 10-year note yield up to 3.92 percent from 3.89 percent late Wednesday. The dollar was weaker versus the yen and the euro.

Among commodities, the weakness in the dollar gave a lift to gold prices. The progress of troops in Iraq took its toll on Brent crude oil futures, which declined 35 cents to $24.95 a barrel in London.

According to economists surveyed by Briefing.com, the number of initial claims is expected to have dipped to 425,000 in the week ended April 5 from 445,000 in the prior week. While that would be an improvement, the number would be well above the 400,000 mark that signals a shrinking labor market.

Also due before the markets open is the February trade balance report from the government. The deficit is seen widening to $42 billion from $41.1 billion in January.

Retailers will be reporting their March same-store sales before trading begins. The figures are expected to be weak, and blame is likely to be laid on a delayed Easter, the war in Iraq and a prolonged winter on the East Coast.

As far as the war is concerned, U.S. forces were trying to clear out resistance in portions of Baghdad not under control -- a day after they helped jubilant Iraqis topple a huge statue of Saddam Hussein to symbolize his removal from power. Speculation continued about Saddam's whereabouts -- if, in fact, he survived a U.S. bombing earlier in the week. (Click here for CNN.com's war coverage)

Many investors had been looking forward to a rally in stock prices once the war was over. However, anxiety about the state of the global economy has taken over.

The International Monetary Fund said in its semi-annual World Economic Outlook on Wednesday that global growth would be only moderate this year and that, even after a quick end to the Iraq war, lingering security worries could limit global activity for decades.

Separately, the Blue Chip Economic Indicators panel sharply cut its U.S. growth projections for the first half of this year. It shaved its second-quarter forecast to 2.2 percent growth from a previous 2.8 percent. The monthly Blue Chip Economic Indicators is a newsletter survey of 50 economists on their expectations for the future performance of the U.S. economy.

Concerns about the economy sent the Dow Jones industrial average down 1.2 percent Wednesday. The Nasdaq composite index was 1.9 percent lower (see chart for details).

Investors will also consider Yahoo!'s first-quarter earnings. The Web portal operator posted a profit of 8 cents a share, up from 2 cents a year earlier and well above the 6 cents analysts surveyed by First Call had projected. Among U.S. stocks trading in Europe, Yahoo! (YHOO: Research, Estimates) rose 4 percent early Thursday.

In other company news, Finnish cell phone maker Nokia (NOK: Research, Estimates) announced Thursday that it is cutting 1,800 jobs. The company issues its first-quarter earnings report next week. Nokia's American depository shares closed down 13 cents Wednesday at $14.87.  

-- from staff and wire reports