NASDAQ Futures Jump After Upbeat Apple Earnings

US stock futures traded mixed in early pre-market trade. The Federal Open Market Committee will announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 15 points to 17,363.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 3.50 points to 2,033.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index jumped 40.75 points to 4,218.25.

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 1.33%, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.27% and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.43%. French CAC 40 Index dipped 0.73% and London's FTSE 100 Index fell 0.33%. French consumer confidence remained flat at 90 in January. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.15%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.22%, China's Shanghai Composite Index slipped 1.41% and India's BSE Sensex declined 0.04%.

Analysts at Longbow Research downgraded Caterpillar Inc.

from Buy to Neutral and removed the price target of $110.00. Caterpillar's shares rose 0.69% to $80.40 in pre-market trading.