US Stock Futures Slip Ahead Of Home Price, Consumer Confidence Data

US stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index for October will be released at 9:00 a.m. ET, while the Conference Board's consumer confidence Index for December will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 26 points to 17,956.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 5.20 points to 2,080.60. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index slipped 6.25 points to 4,304.75.

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.81%, STOXX Europe 600 Index dropping 0.51%. German DAX 30 index slipped 0.68%, French CAC 40 Index slipped 0.86% and London's FTSE 100 Index fell 0.82%. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average declined 1.57%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index tumbled 1.14%, China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.07% and India's Sensex jumped 0.57%.

Analysts at Rafferty Capital downgraded

from Buy to Hold. The price target for BB&T has been lowered from $45 to $41. BB&T's shares closed at $39.37 yesterday.