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Worries about bond insurers take hold, overshadowing Federal Reserve rate cut.

January 31 2008: 5:37 AM EST

U.S. stocks looked set for a rough open Thursday as investors battled concerns about troubled bond insurers and shrugged off another Federal Reserve rate cut.

At 5:21 a.m. ET, Nasdaq and S&P futures were lower, indicating a weak start for stocks.

Just after midnight Wednesday, bond insurer MBIA (MBI) reported its fourth-quarter results, posting a net loss of $2.3 billion.

Bond insurers have been hit hard by the subprime crisis after insuring securities backed by loans made to borrowers with weak credit.

Fears that companies like Ambac (ABK) and MBIA could get downgraded by ratings agencies sparked a bout of selling on Wednesday. Stocks, which had rallied after the Fed cut rates by another half point, turned around and finished the session lower.

In global trade, Asian stocks ended the session mixed and European stocks tumbled in morning trading.

Stocks in the news include Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500) and Starbucks (SBUX, Fortune 500), both of which reported quarterly results late Wednesday.