US Stock Futures Signal Lower Start On Wall Street

US stock futures dropped in early pre-market trade. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 49 points to 15,690.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 6.10 points to 1,787.40. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 6 points to 3,552.00.

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index dropping 0.93%, London's FTSE 100 index gaining 0.02% and STOXX Europe 600 Index climbing 0.01%. German DAX 30 index rose 0.08% and French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.23%. French industrial output dropped 0.3% in December versus November, while Italy's industrial production declined 0.9% versus November. Asian markets ended mixed today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average surged 1.77%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 0.27%, China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 2.03% and India's BSE Sensex declined 0.21%. Japan's December current-account deficit widened to ¥638.6 billion yen ($6.23 billion), from November's ¥592.8 billion.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley upgraded American Express Company

from “equal-weight” to “overweight.” The price target for American Express has been raised from $90 to $100. American Express shares closed at $87.00 on Friday.