S&P 500 futures edged 2.4 points lower at 1,434.70 and Nasdaq 100 futures slipped 4.25 points at 1,775.00. Dow industrial futures declined 13 points.

Unexpectedly strong housing data and year-end buying helped propel U.S. stocks on Wednesday. The Dow industrials hit another new record after a 102 point advance, the S&P 500 rose 9.9 points and the Nasdaq Composite rose 17.7 points in a light day of trading.

After the surprise on the new-home sales figures, traders will be eyeing existing home sales during November, which probably fell to 6.15 million from 6.24 million. That data, as well as a Chicago-area manufacturing gauge, are due out at 10 a.m. Eastern.

Weekly jobless claims and December consumer confidence data from the Conference Board also is on tap.

Crude-oil futures rose 17 cents to $60.51 a barrel ahead of weekly energy inventory numbers.

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For the week ended Dec. 23, chain-store sales rose a lackluster 1.7%, compared with the year-earlier week, the softest such year-over-year gain since Feb. 12, 2005, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers and UBS Securities LLC.

"With about one in five consumers saying that they were planning to shop on the day after Christmas, the last week of the fiscal month might exceed modest expectations as consumers redeem those holiday gift cards and shop for the bargains on clearance," said Michael Niemira, ICSC's chief economist.

Niemira said same-store sales for December are tracking at the low end of the council's forecast of a 2.5% to 3.5% gain, and same-store sales for the combined November and December holiday period are also expected to be at the low end of ICSC's growth target of 2.5% to 3%.

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