A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

US stock futures are slightly lower this morning, as investors are awaiting home sales data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 6 points to 13,399.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 0.80 points to 1,436.40. Nasdaq 100 futures declined 3.25 points to 2,800.00.

European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 1.37%, London's FTSE 100 Index dropped 1.18%, French CAC 40 Index fell 2.03% and German DAX 30 index declined 1.60%. Asian markets ended lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average tumbling 2.03%, China's Shanghai Composite dropping 1.24% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropping 0.30%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.83% and India's Sensex declined 0.33%.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs upgraded Transocean Ltd

from “sell” to “neutral.” The target price for Transocean has been raised from $52 to $54. Transocean shares gained 0.86% to $47.27 in pre-market trading.