US Stock Futures Slightly Lower Ahead Of Jobless Claims Data

US stock futures are slightly lower this morning, as investors are awaiting economic data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 12 points to 12,747.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 2.50 points to 1,383.80. Nasdaq 100 futures declined 4.50 points to 2,589.00.US stocks closed flat on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 0.06% to 12,788.51, the S&P 500 index gaining 0.07% to 1,387.81 and the Nasdaq 100 index rising 0.02% to 2,916.68. Data on weekly jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Markit PMI manufacturing index for November will be released at 8:58 a.m. ET. The University of Michigan's final consumer sentiment index for November will be released at 9:55 a.m. ET. The Conference Board's index of leading indicators for October will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.Deere & Company (NYSE: DE) is expected to report its Q4 earnings at $1.88 per share on revenue of $8.85 billion.Donaldson Company (NYSE: DCI) is estimated to report its Q1 earnings at $0.34 per share on revenue of $584.67 million.Zale (NYSE: ZLC) reported a wider-than-expected first-quarter loss. salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) reported upbeat third-quarter results Tilly's (NYSE: TLYS) reported its Q3 profit at $0.33 per share on revenue of $125 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.30 per share on revenue of $128.7 million. European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 0.03%, London's FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.17%, French CAC 40 Index declined 0.15% and German DAX 30 index fell 0.11%.Asian markets ended mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gaining 0.87%, China's Shanghai Composite rising 1.07% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropping 0.38%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged 1.39% India's Sensex rose 0.72%.Japan's trade deficit came in at 549 billion yen ($6.72 billion) in October, versus a ¥561.7 billion trade deficit in September.Crude oil for January delivery gained $0.68 to trade at $87.43 per barrel on Globex. Gold futures rose $2.80 to $1,726.40 an ounce.The ICE dollar index (DXY) gained 0.27% to trade at 81.11. The euro dropped 0.22% versus the dollar to trade at $1.2791.