US Stock Futures Down Ahead Of Jobless Claims, Retail Sales Data

Pre-open movers US stock futures fell in early pre-market trade, ahead of jobless claims data. Data on weekly jobless claims and retail sales for January will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on business inventories for December will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 59 points to 15,884.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 7.60 points to 1,809.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index dropped 15 points to 3,609.50. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.91%, London's FTSE 100 index dropping 0.65% and STOXX Europe 600 Index slipping 0.65%. German DAX 30 index fell 0.29% and French CAC 40 Index declined 0.33%. Asian markets ended lower today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average tumbled 1.79%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.54%, China's Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.55% and India's BSE Sensex tumbled 1.25%. Broker Recommendation Analysts at Jefferies downgraded Lorillard LO from “buy” to “hold.” The price target for Lorillard has been lowered from $54 to $51. Lorillard's shares closed at $47.47 yesterday. Breaking news

• WABCO Holdings WBC today announced that it has acquired Transics International NV, a market leader in Europe of fleet management solutions headquartered in Ypres, Belgium. To read the full news, click here.
• Comcast Corporation CMCSA and Time Warner Cable TWC today announced that their Boards of Directors have approved a definitive agreement for Time Warner Cable to merge with Comcast. To read the full news, click here.
• The Carlyle Group CG announced today that Jackie Roberts will join the firm as Chief Sustainability Officer, a newly created position. Ms. Roberts comes to Carlyle from the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), where she was a Senior Director of the Idea Bank for the US Climate and Energy Program. To read the full news, click here.
• Avon Products AVP reported a narrower fourth-quarter loss. Avon posted a quarterly loss of $69.1 million, or $0.16 per share, versus a year-ago loss of $162.2 million, or $0.37 per share. On an adjusted basis, it earned $0.34 per share. To read the full news, click here.