US Stock Futures Flat Ahead Of Retail Sales, Consumer Sentiment Data

US stock futures traded mostly flat in early pre-market trade. Data on retail sales for October and import price index for October will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Reuter's/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for November will be released at 9:55 a.m. ET, while business inventories data for September will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 2 points to 17,598.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 0.20 points to 2,033.90. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 2.25 points to 4,207.25.

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index dropping 0.45%, STOXX Europe 600 Index falling 0.44%. German DAX 30 index slipped 0.57%, French CAC 40 Index declined 0.38% and London's FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.34%. The French economy expanded by 0.3% in the third quarter versus the second quarter. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average jumped 0.56%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.28%, China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.27% and India's Sensex gained 0.38%.

Analysts at Cowen & Company upgraded Raytheon Company

from Market Perform to Outperform and raised the price target from $105.00 to $120.00. Raytheon's shares fell 0.27% to close at $103.12 yesterday.