US Stock Futures Flat Ahead Of Jobless Claims, Consumer Confidence Data

US stock futures are mostly flat this morning, as investors are awaiting jobless claims and consumer confidence data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1 point to 13,049.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 0.20 points to 1,413.30. Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 2.25 points to 2,630.75. US stocks closed lower on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 0.19% to 13,114.59, the S&P 500 index falling 0.48% to 1,419.83 and the Nasdaq 100 index declining 0.74% to 2,990.16. Data on initial jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index for December and new home sales for November will be released at 10 a.m. ET. Diodes (NASDAQ:

) agreed to buy BCD Semiconductor Manufacturing (NASDAQ:

) for around $151 million. Medifast (NYSE:

) appointed Joseph Kelleman as its new interim Chief Financial Officer. Matson (NYSE:

) announced its plans to buy the assets of Reef Shipping for undisclosed sum. European markets were mostly higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.10%, London's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.20%, German DAX 30 Index dropped 0.14% and French CAC 40 Index rose 0.27%. Asian markets ended mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rising 0.91%, China's Shanghai Composite dropping 0.60% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index gaining 0.34%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.35% and India's Sensex dropped 0.48%.