US Stock Futures Edge Down Ahead Of Consumer Price Index

US stock futures fell in early pre-market trade, ahead of the consumer price index. The Federal Open Market Committee will begin its two-day policy meeting today. The consumer price index for August will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the NAHB housing market index for September will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 8 points to 15,423.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 2.10 points to 1,689.10. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 1.75 points to 3,159.25.

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.59%, London's FTSE 100 index dropping 0.41% and STOXX Europe 600 Index dipping 0.46%. German DAX 30 index declined 0.22% and French CAC 40 Index fell 0.33%. The euro zone trade surplus widened to 18.2 billion euros ($24.31 billion) in July, from EUR13.9 billion in the year-ago period. German ZEW economic expectations indicator surged to 49.6 points in September, versus 42.0 points in August. Asian markets ended mostly lower today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropped 0.65%, while China's Shanghai Composite fell 2.05%. Australia's ASX/S&P500 gained 0.07%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 0.31% and India's Sensex rose 0.31%. Hong Kong's June-August jobless rate came in unchanged at 3.3% from the May-July period.

Analysts at JP Morgan upgraded US Airways Group

from “neutral” to “overweight.” The target price for US Airways has been raised from $18 to $26. US Airways' shares closed at $18.07 yesterday.