US Stock Futures Down Ahead Of Housing Starts, Consumer Sentiment Data

US stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade, ahead of economic data. Data on housing starts for April will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the Reuter's/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for May will be released at 9:55 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 26 points to 16,395.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 3.30 points to 1,864.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 7.25 points to 3,556.00.

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index dropping 0.47%, STOXX Europe 600 Index falling 0.40%. German DAX 30 index tumbled 0.62%, French CAC 40 Index fell 1.53% and London's FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.28%. The euro-zone GDP expanded 0.2% in the first quarter, versus estimates of a 0.4% gain. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropped 1.41%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.08%, China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.08% and India's BSE Sensex surged 0.90%.

Analysts at Deutsche Bank upgraded Prudential Financial

from “hold” to “buy.” The target price for Prudential Financial is set to $96. Prudential Financial's shares closed at $79.98 yesterday.