US Stock Futures Down; All Eyes On ECB Meeting, EU Summit

US stock futures are lower this morning, ahead of a European Central Bank meeting and a crucial European Union summit on Thursday night and Friday. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 28 points to 12,186.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 4.80 points to 1,259.20. Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 4 points to 2,317.50.

US stocks closed mostly higher on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 0.38% to 12,196.37, the S&P 500 index rising 0.20% to 1,261.01 and the Nasdaq 100 index dropping 0.01% to 2,649.21.

Data on initial weekly jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on wholesale inventories will be released at 10 a.m. ET. The ECB will announce its rate decision at 7:45 a.m. ET. Draghi's news conference is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Smithfield Foods Inc (NYSE: SFD) is projected to post its Q2 EPS at $0.72 on revenue of $3.2 billion. The Cooper Companies Inc (NYSE: COO) is estimated to report its Q4 EPS at $1.21 on revenue of $356.93 million.

Brown-Forman Corp (NYSE: BF-B) is projected to report its FQ2 earnings at $1.09 per share on revenue of $957 million. Pall Corp (NYSE: PLL) is estimated to report its Q1 EPS at $0.65 on revenue of $647.99 million. CIENA Corp (NASDAQ: CIEN) is expected to post its Q4 earnings at $0.07 per share on revenue of $450.51 million.

Layne Christensen Company (NASDAQ: LAYN) is projected to report its Q3 EPS at $0.49 on revenue of $278.08 million. John Wiley & Sons Inc (NYSE: JW-A) is expected to report its Q2 EPS at $1.00 on revenue of $464.95 million. Analogic Corporation (NASDAQ: ALOG) is expected to report its Q1 EPS at $0.43 on revenue of $113.41 million.

Pacific Sunwear of California Inc (NASDAQ: PSUN) reported a larger Q3 loss. The company also announced its plans to close up to 200 underperforming stores.

THQ Inc (NASDAQ: THQI) cut its revenue forecast for its holiday quarter.

European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 0.18%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.32%, French CAC 40 index rose 0.15% and German DAX 30 index gained 0.58%.

Asian markets ended lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 0.5890%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 0.28% and China's Shanghai Composite declining 0.12%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.6901%.

The euro dropped 0.21% versus the dollar to trade at $1.3385. The dollar fell 0.4% against the Japanese yen to trade at ¥77.37.