US Stock Futures Flat Ahead Of Jobless Claims, Durable-Goods Orders Data

US stock futures traded flat in early pre-market trade. Data on durable goods orders for August and weekly jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Markit PMI services index (flash) for September will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET, while the Kansas City Fed manufacturing index for September will be released at 11:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 4 points to 17,143.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 0.30 points to 1,990.70. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 1.50 points to 4,086.25.

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index gaining 0.81%, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.42%. German DAX 30 index rose 0.48%, French CAC 40 Index gained 0.30% and London's FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.09%. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average jumped 1.28%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.64%, China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.07% and India's BSE Sensex tumbled 1.03%.

Analysts at RBC Capital downgraded KB Home

from Outperform to Sector Perform. The target price for KB Home has been lowered from $20 to $17. KB Home's shares fell 5.30% to close at $16.07 yesterday.