US Stock Futures Slightly Down; All Eyes On ECB, Jobless Claims

US stock futures are slightly lower this morning, as investors are awaiting jobless claims data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 11 points to 12,832.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 2.10 points to 1,344.90. Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 4 points to 2,540.75. US stocks closed higher on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 0.04% to 12,883.95, the S&P 500 index rising 0.22% to 1,349.96 and the Nasdaq 100 index surging 0.41% to 2,915.86. Data on weekly jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Investors are also awaiting policy decisions from the European Central Bank and the Bank of England. PepsiCo

is projected to post its Q4 earnings at $1.13 per share on sales of $19.89 billion. Corn Products International Inc

is estimated to post its Q4 EPS at $1.08 on revenue of $1.63 billion. Sonoco Products Company

is projected to post its Q4 EPS at $0.46 on revenue of $1.13 billion. Philip Morris International Inc

is estimated to post its Q4 EPS at $1.09 on revenue of $7.38 billion. Thomson Reuters Corp

is projected to post its Q4 EPS at $0.56 on revenue of $3.33 billion. Lorillard

is projected to post its Q4 earnings at $1.94 per share on revenue of $1.08 billion. Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc

is expected to post its Q4 EPS at $0.36 on revenue of $1.90 billion. Noble Energy Inc

is projected to post its Q4 EPS at $1.17 on revenue of $965.36 million. Sealed Air Corporation

is estimated to post its Q4 EPS at $0.49 on revenue of $2.08 billion. Sirius XM Radio Inc

is expected to post its quarterly EPS at $0.01 on revenue of $785.53 million. Visa Inc

reported an upbeat quarterly profit and announced its plans to buy back $500 million worth of its stock. Groupon Inc

posted a quarterly loss of $0.02 per share. News Corp

reported a 65% surge in its fiscal second-quarter profit. European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.19%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.25%, French CAC 40 index rose 0.36% and German DAX 30 index gained 0.50%. Asian markets ended mixed, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 0.15%, China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.09% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 0.15%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 0.04% and India's Sensex surged 0.70%. China's consumer prices climbed 4.5% y/y in January. However, economists were expecting a 4.1% rise in the index. The euro gained 0.14% versus the dollar to trade at $1.3279. March crude-oil futures surged $0.58 to $99.29 a barrel in electronic trading.