Stocks: A Friday end to the slide?

U.S. stocks fell Thursday.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

U.S. stocks chalked up their biggest two-day loss this year Thursday on news of weakness in Europe, disappointing economic data and a warning of soft sales from Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500).

After the closing bell, Hewlett Packard reported its first-quarter profit fell 11% from a year ago, and sales declined 6%. But expectations for HP are so low that the figures came in above analysts' estimates, sending shares of HP (HPQ, Fortune 500) higher in after-hours trading.

U.S. stock futures were modestly higher ahead of the opening bell Friday.

Fear & Greed Index

European markets staged a partial recovery from Thursday's sell-off in morning trading, although the mood remained cautious ahead of new official European growth forecasts due later Friday, and a key election in Italy this weekend.

Asian markets ended mixed. Japan's Nikkei added 0.7%, while the Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng lost 0.5%.