US Stock Futures Flat Ahead Of Durable-Goods Data

US stock futures were mostly flat in early pre-market trade, ahead of economic data. Data on durable goods orders for September will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the Reuter's/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for October will be released at 9:55 a.m. ET. Data on wholesale inventories for August will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1 point to 15,453.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures declined 1.10 points to 1,747.40. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 5.75 points to 3,376.75.

European markets were mostly lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index dropping 0.65%, London's FTSE 100 index rising 0.13% and STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.10%. German DAX 30 index fell 0.03% and French CAC 40 Index declined 0.13%. Asian markets ended mostly lower today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average tumbled 2.75%, China's Shanghai Composite fell 1.45% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 0.60%. Australia's ASX/S&P500 rose 0.22% and India's Sensex declined 0.20%. Japan's core consumer price index increased 0.7% y/y in September, versus a 0.8% rise in August. The consumer price index rose 0.1% on a monthly basis.

Analysts at JP Morgan downgraded United Continental Holdings

from “neutral” to “underweight.” The target price for United Continental Holdings has been lowered from $32.50 to $25. United Continental's shares fell 1.76% to $30.75 in pre-market trading.