US Stock Futures Down; Dish Swings To Q3 Net Profit

US stock futures declined in early pre-market trade. The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index for October will be released at 7:30 a.m. ET, while the Chicago Fed National Activity Index will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 18 points to 15,705.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 3.80 points to 1,763.80. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 7 points to 3,347.25.

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.84%, London's FTSE 100 index dropping 0.27% and STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.59%. German DAX 30 index fell 0.28% and French CAC 40 Index declined 0.36%. UK's inflation fell to 2.2% in October, from 2.7% in September. Asian markets ended mixed today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average jumped 2.23%, China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.82%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.73% and India's BSE Sensex tumbled 1.02%.

Analysts at JP Morgan downgraded ViroPharma

from “overweight” to “neutral.” The target price for ViroPharma has been raised from $45 to $50. ViroPharma's shares closed at $49.42 yesterday.