US Stock Futures Mixed Ahead Of Economic Data

US stock futures are mixed this morning, ahead of economic data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 8 points to 13,095 and S&P 500 index futures rose 1.60 points to 1,410.80. Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 8 points to 2,615.00. US stocks closed lower on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 0.27% to 13,135.01, the S&P 500 index falling 0.41% to 1,413.58 and the Nasdaq 100 index declining 0.70% to 2,971.33. The Empire State manufacturing index for the month of December will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Analysts at Citigroup downgraded Apple AAPL to “neutral.” The target price for Apple has been lowered from $675 to $575. Diamond Foods DMND is expected to post its Q1 earnings at $0.23 per share on revenue of $274.44 million. SHFL entertainment SHFL is projected to post its Q4 earnings at $0.20 per share on revenue of $68.48 million. Stewart Enterprises STEI is estimated to post its Q4 earnings at $0.10 per share on revenue of $130.41 million. Consol Energy CNX announced its plans to cut 147 jobs. First Bancorp FBNC declared a cash dividend on its common stock of $0.08 per share. European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 0.46%, London's FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.56%, French CAC 40 Index declined 0.77% and German DAX 30 index fell 0.22%. Asian markets ended mostly lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rising 0.94%, China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.45% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropping 0.15%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.41% India's Sensex declined 0.38%.