US Stock Futures Drop Ahead Of Pending Home Sales Report

US stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. The pending home sales index for November will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 31 points to 17,607.5, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 2.75 points to 2,070.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 2.75 points to 4,687.75.

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index declining 0.02 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index dropping 0.24 percent and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.65 percent. French CAC 40 Index slipped 0.06 percent. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.27 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.53 percent, China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.26 percent and India's BSE Sensex dropped 0.46 percent.

Analysts at Deutsche Bank downgraded

from Buy to Hold. The price target for DDR has been lowered from $19 to $17. DDR shares closed at $17.04 on Tuesday.