US Stock Futures Down Ahead Of Economic Data

US stock futures are lower this morning, as investors are awaiting the Chicago PMI and pending home sales data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 32 points to 12971.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 3.20 points to 1,407.50. Nasdaq 100 futures declined 5.25 points to 2,617.25. US stocks closed lower on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 0.14% to 13,096.31, the S&P 500 index falling 0.12% to 1,418.10 and the Nasdaq 100 index declining 0.14% to 2,985.91. The Chicago purchasing-managers index will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET. However, the National Association of Realtors is scheduled to release pending home sales data for November at 10:00 a.m. ET. Synchronoss Technologies

reported that it had bought NewBay from Research in Motion

for $55.5 million. MEMC Electronic Materials

reported that Emmanuel Hernandez will replace John Marren as the company's new chairman. Cepheid

reported that it has received clearance from the US FDA to market Xpert® CT/NG. European markets were mostly lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 0.31%, London's FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.03%, German DAX 30 Index dropped 0.30% and French CAC 40 Index fell 0.73%. Asian markets ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rising 0.70%, China's Shanghai Composite gaining 1.24% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index gaining 0.51%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.21% and India's Sensex surged 0.63%. Japanese unemployment rate declined to 4.1% in November, from 4.2% in October. The country's industrial production dropped 1.7% in November. Gold for February delivery dropped $2.40 to trade at $1,661.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the NYMEX. Crude oil for February delivery gained $0.03 to $90.90 a barrel.