US Stock Futures Tumble Ahead Of Earnings, Economic Data

US stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. Data on GDP growth for the third quarter and weekly jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 86 points to 16,838.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 12.10 points to 1,960.10. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index dropped 26.75 points to 4,045.50.

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 2.13%, STOXX Europe 600 Index dropping 0.85%. German DAX 30 index slipped 1.75%, French CAC 40 Index fell 1.33% and London's FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.14%. Spain's gross domestic product increased 1.6% y/y in the third quarter. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average jumped 0.67%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.49%, China's Shanghai Composite Index jumped 0.76% and India's Sensex rose 0.92%.

Analysts at JP Morgan upgraded Southwest Airlines Company

from Underperform to Neutral and raised the price target from $29.50 to $42.00. Southwest Airlines' shares fell 1.16% to close at $34.13 yesterday.