US Stock Futures Down Ahead Of Economic Data

Pre-open moversUS stock futures dropped in early pre-market trade, ahead of economic data. The consumer price index for July, the Empire State manufacturing index and weekly jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 64 points to 15,240.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 8 points to 1,674.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 19.75 points to 3,103.50. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index dropping 0.11%, London's FTSE 100 index dropping 0.69% and STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.66%. German DAX 30 index fell 0.58% and French CAC 40 Index declined 0.33%. In July, UK retail sales increased 1.1% on the month and surged 3% y/y. However, economists were expecting sales to increase 0.7% on the month.Asian markets ended lower today. China's Shanghai Composite declined 0.87%, while Japan's Nikkei Stock Average tumbled 2.12%. Australia's ASX/S&P500 dropped 0.08% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.01%. Broker RecommendationAnalysts at Goldman Sachs upgraded Carnival (NYSE: CCL) from “neutral” to “buy.” The target price for Carnival has been raised from $31 to $42. Carnival's shares closed at $36.91 yesterday. Breaking news

• Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) reported a 4% drop in its second-quarter profit. Kohl's quarterly profit declined to $231 million, from $240 million, in the year-ago period. Its per-share earnings climbed to $1.04 from $1.00. To read the full news, click here.
• Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT) reported a rise in its fiscal second-quarter profit. Wal-Mart also lowered its full year earnings forecast to $5.10 to $5.30 per share. To read the full news, click here.
• Novartis (NYSE: NVS) announced today that the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has added Bexsero®, a multi-component Meningococcal B (MenB) vaccine (recombinant, adsorbed) suspension for injection 0.5 ml pre-filled syringe, to the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG) for use in individuals from two months of age and older. To read the full news, click here.
• International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM) today announced a definitive agreement to acquire Trusteer, a leading provider of software that helps protect organizations against financial fraud and advanced security threats. To read the full news, click here.