US Stock Futures Down Ahead Of Jobless Claims Data

US stock futures are lower this morning, as investors are awaiting jobless claims data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 73 points to 12,993.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 9 points to 1,388.50. Nasdaq 100 futures declined 14.75 points to 2,720.50. US stocks closed mixed on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 0.35% to 13,124.62, the S&P 500 index declining 0.19% to 1,402.89 and the Nasdaq 100 index gaining 0.04% to 3,075.32. Data on weekly jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Leading indicators for February and Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) home prices for January will be released at 10 a.m. ET. Gamestop Corporation GME is expected to post its Q4 EPS at $1.72 on revenue of $3.71 billion. Accenture plc ACN is estimated to post its Q2 EPS at $0.86 on revenue of $6.64 billion. Dollar General Corp DG is projected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.82 per share on revenue of $4.1 billion. lululemon athletica inc LULU is estimated to post its quarterly earnings at $0.49 per share on revenue of $362.37 million. ConAgra Foods Inc CAG is projected to post its FQ3 earnings at $0.49 per share on revenue of $3.36 billion. FedEx Corp FDX is projected to post its Q3 earnings at $1.34 per share on revenue of $10.6 billion. Signet Jewelers Limited SIG is estimated to post its Q4 EPS at $1.77 on revenue of $1.36 billion. Nike Inc NKE is expected to post its Q3 EPS at $1.17 on revenue of $5.82 billion Shoe Carnival Inc SCVL reported upbeat fiscal fourth-quarter results. Discover Financial Services DFS reported a 36% surge in its Q1 profit. European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index declined 1.30%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.99%, French CAC 40 index fell 1.53% and German DAX 30 index dropped 1.61%. Asian markets ended mixed, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rising 0.40%, China's Shanghai Composite declining 0.10% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.41%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 0.22% and India's Sensex dipped 2.30%. Crude-oil futures for May delivery dipped $1.25 to $106.02 a barrel. However, gold futures for April delivery declined $13.20 to $1,624.30 an ounce. The ICE dollar index (DXY) gained 0.28% to 79.82, versus 79.654 in North American trade late Wednesday.