A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

US stock futures are lower this morning, as investors are awaiting new-home sales data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 19 points to 12,843.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 3.30 points to 1,394.10. Nasdaq 100 futures declined 6.25 points to 2,635.00.

European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 0.21%, London's FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.25%, French CAC 40 Index declined 0.40% and German DAX 30 index fell 0.15%. Asian markets ended lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 1.22%, China's Shanghai Composite dropping 0.89% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 falling 0.24%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 0.62%.

Analysts at Piper Jaffray downgraded Windstream

from “neutral” to “underweight.” The target price for Windstream has been lowered from $8 to $6.50. Windstream shares gained 0.72% to $8.37 in after-hours trading.