US Stock Futures Down Ahead Of Economic Data

US stock futures are lower this morning, as investors are awaiting consumer-sentiment data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 54 points to 12,788.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 7.50 points to 1,340.80. Nasdaq 100 futures dipped 10.50 points to 2,550.50. US stocks closed mostly higher on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 0.05% to 12,890.46, the S&P 500 index rising 0.15% to 1,351.95 and the Nasdaq 100 index gaining 0.39% to 2,927.23. The Commerce Department is scheduled to release the December trade deficit data at 8:30 a.m. ET. However, the University of Michigan/Thomson Reuters consumer-sentiment index for February will be released at 9:55 a.m. ET. Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings LH is projected to report its Q4 EPS at $1.51 on revenue of $1.38 billion. Arch Coal Inc ACI is estimated to post its Q4 earnings at $0.33 per share on sales of $1.3 billion. Treehouse Foods Inc THS is expected to post its Q4 EPS at $0.88 on revenue of $539.33 million. PPL Corp PPL is projected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.62 per share on revenue of $2.71 billion. Buckeye Partners LP BPL is expected to post its Q4 earnings at $0.85 per share on revenue of $1.08 billion. Brookfield Office Properties Inc BPO is estimated to post its Q4 earnings at $0.31 per share on revenue of $499.7 million. LinkedIn Corp LNKD reported its Q4 adjusted earnings at $0.12 per share on revenue of $167.7 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.07 per share on revenue of $160 million. Activision Blizzard Inc ATVI reported its Q4 adjusted earnings at $0.63 per share on net sales of $2.4 billion. However, analysts were looking for adjusted earnings of $0.56 per share on net sales of $2.2 billion. Barclays PLC BCS reported a decline in its profit and cut its bonus pool. European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index dropped 0.41%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.33%, French CAC 40 index fell 0.62% and German DAX 30 index dropped 0.88%. Asian markets ended mostly lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 0.61%, China's Shanghai Composite rising 0.10% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 0.79%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.08% and India's Sensex dipped 0.46%. Crude-oil futures for March delivery dropped $1.04 to $98.81 a barrel. The International Energy Agency cut its target for 2012 global oil demand growth. Gold futures for April delivery dipped $16.40 to $1,725.00 an ounce. The dollar index (DXY) gained 0.10% to 78.72, up from 78.582 in late North American trading on Thursday.