US Stock Futures Tumble Ahead Of Earnings

US stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. Data on housing starts for March and weekly jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index for April will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 59.50 points to 17,962.50, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 8.10 points to 2,091.65. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index slipped 14.85 points to 4,406.90.

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index dropping 1.46 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index falling 0.67 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 1.46 percent. French CAC 40 Index slipped 0.53 percent and London's FTSE 100 Index fell 0.32 percent. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.08 percent, China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 2.71 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.44 percent and India's BSE Sensex dipped 0.46 percent.

Analysts at Deutsche Bank downgraded

from Buy to Hold. The price target for SanDisk has been lowered from $80 to $65. SanDisk shares fell 7.97 percent to $65.45 in pre-market trading.