US Stock Futures Drop Ahead Of Consumer Credit Data

US stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. Data on consumer credit for August will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 62 points to 16,841.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 7.40 points to 1,948.60. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 14 points to 3,993.00.

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 1.50%, STOXX Europe 600 Index dropping 0.90%. German DAX 30 index fell 0.81%, French CAC 40 Index slipped 1.07% and London's FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.63%.German industrial output slipped 4.0% on the month in August. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropped 0.67%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.46% and India's BSE Sensex fell 1.11%. Indian Service Sector Business Activity Index increased to 51.6 in September, according to a HSBC index. .

Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company

from Hold to Buy. The price target for Becton, Dickinson is set to $153. Becton, Dickinson's shares closed at $124.98 yesterday.