US Stock Futures Mixed Ahead of Economic Data

US stock futures traded mixed in early pre-market trade, ahead of economic data. Data on international trade, weekly jobless claims and nonfarm business productivity will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 8 points to 15,787.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 2.70 points to 1,781.40. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index dropped 9.25 points to 3,392.75.

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.51%, London's FTSE 100 index gaining 0.41% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.37%. German DAX 30 index rose 0.73% and French CAC 40 Index surged 0.66%. UK retail sales declined 0.7% in October versus September. French current-account deficit widened to 3.9 billion euros ($5.23 billion) in September from EUR3.6 billion in August, while the country's consumer prices index dropped 0.1% in October versus September. Asian markets ended higher today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average jumped 2.12%, China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.60%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.82% and India's BSE Sensex surged 1.02%. India's wholesale price index climbed 7.00% y/y, versus a 6.46% rise in September.

Analysts at Deutsche Bank downgraded Cisco Systems

from “buy” to “hold.” The target price for Cisco has been lowered from $28 to $25. Cisco's shares tumbled 10.98% to $21.36 in pre-market trading.