US Stock Futures Slip Ahead Of Economic Data

US stock futures fell in early pre-market trading, ahead of economic data. The FHFA house price index for December and the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index for November will be released at 9:00 a.m. ET. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index, The Richmond Fed manufacturing index and the State Street Investor Confidence Index for February will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 17 points to 16,169.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 3.30 points to 1,842.60. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index dropped 6 points to 3,682.00.

European markets were mostly lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.06%, London's FTSE 100 index dropping 0.73% and STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.42%. German DAX 30 index fell 0.48% and French CAC 40 Index declined 0.53%. Asian markets ended mixed today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average jumped 1.44%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.32%, China's Shanghai Composite Index declined 2.04% and India's BSE Sensex gained 0.2%.

Analysts at Bank of America downgraded VIVUS

from “neutral” to “underperform.” The price target for VIVUS has been lowered from $11 to $6. VIVUS shares closed at $6.75 yesterday.