US Stock Futures Down Ahead Of Economic Data

US stock futures are lower this morning, as investors are awaiting economic data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 16 points to 14,015.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 4.10 points to 1,508.90. Nasdaq 100 futures declined 3.50 points to 2,734.00. US stocks closed slightly lower on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 0.15% to 14,054.49, the S&P 500 index falling 0.09% to 1,514.68 and the Nasdaq 100 index declining 0.07% to 3,160.19. Data on personal income and spending for January will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Markit PMI manufacturing index for February will be released at 8:58 a.m. ET, while the Reuter's/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for February will be released at 9:55 a.m. ET. The ISM manufacturing index for February and construction spending data for January will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Data on motor vehicle sales for February will be released today. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will deliver a speech at a San Francisco Fed research conference. Gap

reported upbeat fourth-quarter results. Salesforce.com

reported better-than-expected Q4 adjusted earnings. Foster Wheeler AG

is projected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.46 per share on revenue of $976.55 million. Pepco Holdings

is projected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.19 per share on revenue of $1.39 billion. Best Buy Co

is projected to report its quarterly earnings at $1.53 per share on revenue of $16.32 billion. Superior Industries International

is estimated to report its Q4 earnings at $0.25 per share on revenue of $208.29 million. Exelis

is projected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.46 per share on revenue of $1.35 billion. Berkshire Hathaway

is expected to post its Q4 earnings at $1.13 per share on revenue of $7.98 billion. Crosstex Energy

is expected to report a Q4 loss at $0.22 per share on revenue of $449.42 million. Euro-zone inflation declined to 1.8% in February, versus 2% in the earlier month. European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 0.77%, London's FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.37%, French CAC 40 Index tumbled 1.10% and German DAX 30 index declined 0.66%. Asian markets ended mixed, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gaining 0.41%, China's Shanghai Composite falling 0.26% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropping 0.38%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 0.61% and India's Sensex rose 0.30%. The US dollar gained 0.36% against the Japanese yen to trade at ¥92.89, up from ¥92.63 in New York late Thursday. The ICE dollar index (DXY) rose 0.28% to trade at 82.17, up from 81.959 on Thursday. Crude-oil futures for April delivery dropped 1.02% to trade at $91.11.