A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

US stock futures are slightly lower this morning. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 7 points to 12,856.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 1.30 points to 1,365.50. Nasdaq 100 futures declined 3 points to 2,640.75.

European markets were mostly lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index dropped 0.11%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.07%, French CAC 40 index fell 0.11% and German DAX 30 index gained 0.14%. Asian markets ended mostly lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average declining 0.40%, China's Shanghai Composite dropping 0.19% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 0.29%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 0.23% and India's Sensex rose 0.48%.

Analysts at Jefferies & Company downgraded Oracle Corp

from “buy” to “hold.” The target price for Oracle has been lowered from $35 to $32. Oracle shares dropped 1.10% to $29.80 in pre-market trading.