US Stock Futures Down, Economic Data In Focus; Japan's Nikkei Ends 5.7% Higher

US stock futures are lower this morning. Investors kept an eye on the ongoing Japan's nuclear crisis. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 28 points to 11,761.00 and futures for the S&P 500 index declined 3.80 points to 1,271.50. Nasdaq 100 futures fell 2 points to 2,243.00.

US stocks tumbled on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 1.15%, the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index declining 1.12% and the Nasdaq Composite falling 1.25%.

Data on production prices, housing starts for February and current account deficit for the fourth quarter will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Guess? Inc GES is projected to report its Q4 EPS at $1.06 on revenue of $725.90 million. CLARCOR Inc CLC is projected to report its Q1 earnings at $0.42 per share on revenue of $250.65 million.

Pacific Sunwear of California Inc PSUN reported a Q4 loss at $35 million, or $0.53 per share, versus a net loss of $36 million, or $0.56 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Excluding one-time items, the company's loss came in at $0.33 per share. PSUN's revenue dropped 10% to $263 million. However, analysts were expecting an adjusted loss of $0.27 per share on revenue of $272 million. PSUN projects to post a Q1 loss of $0.46 to $0.55 per share, or $0.29 to $0.35 per share on an adjusted basis.

Rambus Inc RMBS renewed its five-year patent license agreement with Toshiba Corp.

NVIDIA Corp NVDA announced the resignation of its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) David White. The company reported that White has resigned for personal reasons. NVDA has appointed Karen Burns, corporate controller and vice president of tax, as interim CFO.

Moody's Investors Service downgraded Portugal's debt ratings from “A1” to “A3.”

The Nikkei Stock Average surged 5.68% today after a 10.55% decline on Monday.
Asian markets ended higher, with Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gaining 0.74% and China's Shanghai Composite rising 1.20%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.10%.

Negative sentiment ruled the European markets today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has dropped 0.39%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.74%.

Crude oil for April delivery gained 1.29% to $98.43 a barrel in Nymex electronic trading. Gold futures for April delivery rose 0.42% to $1,399 an ounce.

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