US Stock Futures Down, Costco Posts Upbeat Earnings

US stock futures are lower this morning. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 23 points to 14,357.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 2.20 points to 1,548.30. Nasdaq 100 futures declined 5.25 points to 2,800.00. US stocks closed higher on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 0.35% to 14,447.29, the S&P 500 index rising 0.32% to 1,556.22 and the Nasdaq 100 index surging 0.26% to 3,252.87. The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index for February will be released at 7:30 a.m. ET, while the ICSC-Goldman store sales index will be released at 7:45 a.m. ET. The Johnson Redbook retail sales index will be released at 8:55 a.m. ET. The US Treasury monthly budget report for February will be released at 2:00 p.m. ET. Urban Outfitters URBN reported downbeat fourth-quarter earnings. VeriFone Systems PAY reported that its CEO, Douglas Bergeron, is stepping down. Yum! Brands YUM reported a 20% drop in its quarterly same-store sales in China. However, the company had projected sales to decline by 25%. Costco Wholesale COST reported a 39% rise in its fiscal-second-quarter net income. Bridgepoint Education BPI is projected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.28 per share on revenue of $217.56 million. Dole Food Company DOLE is estimated to post a Q4 loss at $0.02 per share on revenue of $1.30 billion. Stage Stores SSI is expected to report its Q4 earnings at $1.16 per share on revenue of $528.91 million. Spartech SEH is projected to post a Q1 loss at $0.04 per share on revenue of $266.90 million. Core-Mark Holding Company CORE is estimated to report its Q4 earnings at $0.84 per share on revenue of $2.22 billion. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions KTOS is projected to post a Q4 loss at $0.07 per share on revenue of $262.28 million. Bon-Ton Stores BONT is estimated to report its Q4 earnings at $3.57 per share on revenue of $1.04 billion. European markets were mixed today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.05%, London's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.09%, French CAC 40 Index fell 0.11% and German DAX 30 index dropped 0.05%. Asian markets ended lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 0.28%, China's Shanghai Composite falling 1.04% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropping 0.61%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 0.87% and India's Sensex dropped 0.56%. Gold futures gained $4.10 to trade at $1,582.10 an ounce. The ICE dollar index (DXY) gained 0.12% to trade at 82.72.