US Stock Futures Down On S&P Downgrade

US stock futures are lower this morning, after Standard & Poor's downgraded the US debt rating. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 175 points to 11,227.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 18.90 points to 1,178.90. Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 37.25 points to 2,149.75. US stocks closed mostly lower on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 0.54% to 11,444.61, the S&P 500 index declining 0.06% to 1,199.38 and the Nasdaq 100 index dipping 0.94% to 2,532.41. After the closing bell on Friday, Standard & Poor's downgraded the sovereign debt rating of the US from “AAA” to “AA+.” Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc DTG is projected to report its Q2 EPS at $1.37 on revenue of $408.57 million. MGM Resorts International MGM is projected to report a FQ4 loss at $0.13 per share on revenue of $1.59 billion. Live Nation Entertainment Inc LYV is projected to report its Q2 EPS at $0.02 on revenue of $1.32 billion. Tyson Foods Inc TSN is estimated to report its Q3 earnings at $0.41 per share on revenue of $8.29 billion. 99 Cents Only Stores NDN is expected to report its FQ1 EPS at $0.27 on revenue of $365.29 million. The Babcock & Wilcox Company BWC is expected to post its Q2 EPS at $0.37 on revenue of $735.79 million. Berkshire Hathaway Inc BRK reported its Q2 profit at $3.42 billion, or $2,072 per Class A share, up from $1.97 billion, or $1,195 per Class A share, in the year-ago period. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $2,102.50 per Class A share. European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index dropped 0.62%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.07%, French CAC 40 index fell 0.30% and German DAX 30 index dropped 0.74%. Asian markets ended lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dipping 2.18%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 2.71% and China's Shanghai Composite declining 3.79%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 2.17% and India's Sensex dipped 0.85%. Gold futures for December delivery surged $53 to $1,704.80 an ounce. The dollar index dropped 0.36% to 74.26, versus 74.592 in North American trade late Friday.