US Stock Futures Slip Ahead Of Home Price, Consumer Confidence Data

Pre-open movers

US stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index for October will be released at 9:00 a.m. ET, while the Conference Board's consumer confidence Index for December will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 26 points to 17,956.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 5.20 points to 2,080.60. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index slipped 6.25 points to 4,304.75.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.81%, STOXX Europe 600 Index dropping 0.51%. German DAX 30 index slipped 0.68%, French CAC 40 Index slipped 0.86% and London's FTSE 100 Index fell 0.82%.

In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average declined 1.57%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index tumbled 1.14%, China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.07% and India's Sensex jumped 0.57%.

Broker Recommendation
Analysts at Rafferty Capital downgraded BB&T Corporation (NYSE: BBT) from Buy to Hold. The price target for BB&T has been lowered from $45 to $41.

BB&T's shares closed at $39.37 yesterday.

Breaking news

• New York REIT, Inc. (NYSE: NYRT) announced today that its Board of Directors has appointed Michael Happel, the Company's President, to the role of Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. To read the full news, click here.
• Acacia Research Corporation (NASDAQ: ACTG) announced today that its Body Science LLC subsidiary has entered into a settlement agreement with A&D Engineering, Inc. regarding wireless medical diagnostic and monitoring systems. To read the full news, click here.
• OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: OGXI) today announced that it has executed an initial agreement with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA) to regain rights to custirsen, an investigational compound currently being evaluated in Phase 3 clinical development as a treatment for prostate and lung cancers. To read the full news, click here.
• Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALXN) announced today completion of the rolling submission of a Biologics License Application (BLA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for asfotase alfa, an investigational, first-in-class enzyme replacement therapy for the treatment of hypophosphatasia (HPP). To read the full news, click here.