US Stock Futures Flat Ahead Of Economic Data

US stock futures traded mostly flat in early pre-market trade, ahead of economic data. Data on motor vehicle sales for January will be released today, while the Markit PMI manufacturing index (final) for January will be released at 8:58 a.m. ET. The ISM manufacturing composite index for January and construction spending data for December will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 9 points to 15,639.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 0.20 points to 1,776.40. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index dropped 1 point to 3,513.00.

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.76%, London's FTSE 100 index dropping 0.68% and STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.64%. German DAX 30 index fell 0.67% and French CAC 40 Index declined 0.54%. French new car registrations increased by 0.5% y/y in January. UK manufacturing PMI declined to 56.7 in January versus 57.2 in December. Asian markets ended lower today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average tumbled 1.98% and India's BSE Sensex dipped 1.48%. Japan's domestic auto sales surged 27.5% y/y in January. China's official non-manufacturing PMI dropped to 53.4 in January, versus 54.6 in December.

Analysts at Guggenheim upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group

from “neutral” to “buy.” The price target for Goldman Sachs is set to $200. Goldman Sachs shares closed at $164.12 on Friday.