(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock

markets, click or type LIVE/ in a news window.)

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Weekly jobless claims at 225,000

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September ISM non-manufacturing data due at 10 a.m. ET

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Levi Strauss tumbles after saying it is exploring unit

sale

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East, Gulf coast workers' strike enters third day

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Futures off: Dow 0.28%, S&P 500 0.17%, Nasdaq 0.29%

(Updated at 08:44 a.m. ET/1244 GMT)

By Johann M Cherian and Purvi Agarwal

Oct 3 (Reuters) -

Wall Street was poised to open slightly lower on Thursday

after a moderate rise in jobless claims sparked worries about

the health of the labor market, while cautious investors kept an

eye on the

Middle East for any escalation in hostilities.

A Labor Department report showed the number of Americans

filing new applications for unemployment benefits was 225,000

for the week ended Sept. 28, compared with an estimate of

220,000, according to economists Reuters polled.

Odds that the U.S. central bank will trim rates by 25

basis points at its November meeting now stand at 64.5%, up from

50.7% a week ago, according to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool.

Focus now turns to Friday's nonfarm payrolls data for

the month of September.

Rate-sensitive heavyweights took a hit, with Tesla

dropping 1.57%, Apple ( AAPL ) edging down 0.61% and

Alphabet slipping 0.57% in premarket trading. Yields

on Treasury bonds inched higher after the

data was released.

Investors have been wary for the last two sessions as they

contemplated the scale of Israel and the United States' response

to Iran's recent attack on Israel. The CBOE volatility index,

Wall Street's fear gauge, hovered at more than three-week

highs at 19.74.

"We'll see some cautiousness due to two factors: the war

headlines that continue to impact the equities market and of

course, tomorrow's unemployment data," said Peter Cardillo,

chief market economist, Spartan Capital Securities.

"It's safe to say that we'll probably have a mixed

market session today as investors' cautiousness rises ahead of

tomorrow's key macro data of the month."

Dow E-minis were down 119 points, or 0.28%, S&P

500 E-minis were down 10 points, or 0.17% and Nasdaq 100

E-minis were down 58.75 points, or 0.29%.

The Institute for Supply Management's survey on service

sector activity, which makes up the majority of the U.S. economy

is due at 10 a.m. ET.

U.S. stocks have rallied for much of the year, with the

benchmark S&P 500 confirming a bull rally and logging

gains in eight of the previous nine months on expectations of

lower borrowing costs.

Tech stocks have led the charge on the prospect of

their earnings getting a boost from artificial intelligence

integration.

Investors will also assess comments from Fed policymakers

Raphael Bostic and Neel Kashkari later in the day. Richmond Fed

President Thomas Barkin said on Wednesday that sticky inflation

could limit the magnitude of further interest rate cuts next

year.

Meanwhile, a workers' strike on the East and Gulf coasts

entered its third day. Morgan Stanley economists said a

prolonged stoppage could raise consumer prices, with food prices

likely to react first.

Among premarket movers, oil stocks such as Occidental

Petroleum ( OXY ) and Exxon Mobil ( XOM ) edged up 0.30% and

0.39%, respectively, although crude prices rose more than 1%.

Levi Strauss slid 11.6% after the company said it

was considering a sale of its underperforming Dockers brand and

forecast fourth-quarter revenue below expectations.

Constellation Brands ( STZ ) dropped 1.9% after posting

second-quarter results.