US Stock Futures Slip Ahead Of Economic Data

US stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for January will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the Markit PMI services index for February will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET. Data on Existing home sales for January will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET, while the Dallas Fed general business activity index for February will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 38 points to 18,066.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 4.60 points to 2,102.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index slipped 1 point to 4,437.

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.62%, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.28% and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.35%. French CAC 40 Index rose 0.09% and London's FTSE 100 Index fell 0.36%. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.73%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.02% and India's BSE Sensex dropped 0.88%.

Analysts at Piper Jaffray downgraded Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

from Overweight to Neutral and lowered the price target from $160.00 to $158.00. Salix Pharmaceuticals shares dipped 1.17% to $156.00 in pre-market trading.