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After plummeting early on in reaction to disappointing employment data, stocks lingered near their worst levels of the day throughout the trading session on Thursday. The major averages all posted steep losses ending the holiday-shortened week on a sour note.

For the week the, Dow fell by 1.9 percent, the Nasdaq slipped 2.3 percent and the S&P 500 dropped by 2.4 percent. The week's downward move was largely due to today's retreat.

U.S. stocks are set to open higher Wednesday morning anxiously awaiting a slew of economic data due for release later in the day after optimism about a recovery was dented yet again by a drop in consumer confidence.

As of 6.15 am ET, the Dow Futures were up 51 points, the S&P Futures were up 6.90 points, and the Nasdaq 100 futures were up 12.25 points.

Tuesday, stocks ended sharply lower in negative territory, dragged down by lower-than-expected consumer confidence numbers.

After kicking off Tuesday's session showing a mild upward move, stocks turned sharply lower as traders digested consumer confidence figures that fell short of expectations. The major averages all finished firmly in negative territory, offsetting Monday's gains.

A report from the Conference Board said its consumer confidence index fell to 49.3 in June from a revised 54.8 in May. The decrease surprised economists, who had expected the index to edge up to 55.3 from the 54.9 originally reported for the previous month.