US Stock Futures Edge Lower Ahead of Economic Data

Pre-open movers US stock futures dropped in early pre-market trade, ahead of economic data. Data on weekly jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the Markit PMI manufacturing index for December will be released at 8:58 a.m. ET. The ISM manufacturing composite index for December and construction spending data for November will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 13 points to 16,481.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures declined 1.50 points to 1,839.60. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 7.50 points to 3,576.25. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.76%, London's FTSE 100 index dropping 0.42% and STOXX Europe 600 Index dipping 0.30%. German DAX 30 index declined 0.45% and French CAC 40 Index dropped 0.97%. Spanish manufacturing PMI surged to 50.8 in December, versus 48.6 in November. The euro-zone final reading of manufacturing PMI climbed to 52.7 in December, versus November's reading of 51.6. UK's manufacturing PMI dropped to 57.3 in December, versus a revised 58.1 in November. Asian markets ended mostly lower today. China's Shanghai Composite dropped 0.31%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.14% and India's BSE Sensex fell 1.19%. China's manufacturing PMI came in at 50.5 in December, versus the final reading of 50.8 in November, HSBC reported. Broker Recommendation Analysts at Wells Fargo downgraded Apple AAPL from “outperform” to “market perform.” Apple's shares rose 0.35% to $556.44 in pre-market trading. Breaking news

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