US Stock Futures Drop Ahead Of Jobless Claims, Retail Sales Data

US stock futures fell in early pre-market trade, ahead of economic data. Data on weekly jobless claims, retail sales and import prices will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on business inventories for October will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 34 points to 15,802.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 3.30 points to 1,777.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index dropped 5 points to 3,465.50.

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.59%, London's FTSE 100 index dropping 1.06% and STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.79%. German DAX 30 index dropped 0.71% and French CAC 40 Index fell 0.29%. Asian markets ended lower today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average declined 1.12%, China's Shanghai Composite dropped 0.06%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.51% and India's BSE Sensex tumbled 1.16%. Australian unemployment rate climbed to 5.8% in November versus 5.7% in October.

Analysts at Bank of America upgraded Southwest Airlines Company

from “neutral” to “buy.” The target price for Southwest Airlines has been raised from $18 to $23. Southwest Airlines' shares closed at $17.97 yesterday.