US Stock Futures Down Ahead Of Wholesale Trade Data

US stock futures dropped in early pre-market trade, ahead of wholesale trade data. Data on wholesale inventories for June will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 51 points to 15,401.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures dropped 6.20 points to 1,687.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 6.50 points to 3,120.50.

European markets were mixed today, with the Spanish Ibex Index surging 0.05%, London's FTSE 100 index rising 0.20% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.09%. German DAX 30 index dropped 0.23% and French CAC 40 Index fell 0.14%. French industrial production declined 1.4% in June versus May, while economists were estimating a 0.1% gain in industrial production. Greek industrial output climbed 0.4% y/y in June, versus a downwardly revised 5.2% fall in May. Asian markets ended mixed after Chinese data. China's industrial production rose 9.7% y/y, versus a 8.9% growth in June. However, the country's retail sales rose 13.2% in July, versus a 13.3% growth in June. China's consumer price index increased 2.7% y/y in July, versus economist' expectations for a 2.8% rise. Australia's central bank lowered its calendar 2013 economic growth view to 2.25%, versus its earlier growth forecast of 2.5%. China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.36%, while Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.07%. Australia's ASX/S&P500 dropped 0.16% and Hong Kong's Heng Seng Index gained 0.70%.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs downgraded Footlocker

from “buy” to “neutral.” The target price for Footlocker has been lowered from $41 to $37. Footlocker's shares closed at $35.67 yesterday.