Tuesday, November 30, 2010

US Stock Futures Down As Investors Await Economic Data





US stock futures are lower, this morning as investors awaited economic data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 10 points to 11,029.00, while those for the S&P 500 lost 0.60 point to 1,185.90. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index lost 1.50 points to 2,144.00.

US stock markets closed lower yesterday, with the Dow losing 0.36%.

Economic data on Case-Shiller home prices for September and the Chicago PMI index for November business activity are due at 9:00 a.m. and 9:45 a.m. ET, respectively. The Conference Board is all set to release November consumer-confidence data at 10 a.m. ET.

Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) is expected to report FQ2 loss of $0.08 per share. OmniVision Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: OVTI) is likely to post its earnings at $0.52 per share in the fiscal second quarter.

Positive sentiments ruled the European markets today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has advanced 0.53%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.41%.

Asian markets ended in the negative territory, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 1.87%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 0.64% and China's Shanghai Composite dipping 1.62%.

The euro dropped about 0.83% against the US dollar, while the Japanese yen rose about 0.37% against the greenback.

Crude oil futures fell around 0.45%, while the gold futures gained about 0.69%.