US Stock Futures Down Ahead Of Economic Data

US stock futures are lower this morning, as investors are awaiting economic data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 16 points to 13,315.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 3.10 points to 1,454.10. Nasdaq 100 futures declined 1.25 points to 2,737.50. US stocks closed higher on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 2.35% to 13,412.55, the S&P 500 index gaining 2.54% to 1,462.42 and the Nasdaq 100 index surging 3.07% to 3,112.26. The ADP national employment report for December will be released at 8:15 a.m. ET, while data on weekly jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Federal Reserve is scheduled to release minutes of its latest meeting at 2 p.m. ET. Family Dollar Stores FDO is projected to report its Q1 earnings at $0.75 per share on revenue of $2.38 billion. A. Schulman SHLM is expected to post its Q1 earnings at $0.49 per share on revenue of $495.40 million. Worthington Industries WOR is projected to report its Q2 earnings at $0.41 per share on revenue of $636.41 million. UniFirst UNF is expected to report its Q1 earnings at $1.33 per share on revenue of $327.27 million. Progress Software PRGS is projected to post its Q4 earnings at $0.34 per share on revenue of $116.31 million. Mellanox Technologies MLNX lowered its fourth-quarter revenue forecast. Landec LNDC reported a surge in its fiscal second-quarter earnings and lifted its full-year outlook. Advanced Micro Devices AMD named Devinder Kumar as its chief financial officer. Costco Wholesale COST reported a 9% surge in December same-store sales. European markets were mostly lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.28%, London's FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.13%, German DAX 30 Index declined 0.29% and French CAC 40 Index fell 0.58%. Asian markets ended higher, with Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index gaining 0.82%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.37% and India's Sensex rose 0.26%. China's official non-manufacturing PMI surged to 56.1 in December, versus 55.6 in November. Nymex crude oil futures dropped $0.51 to trade at $93.04 a barrel, while gold futures fell $7 to $1,681.80 an ounce. The dollar index (DXY) rose 0.33% to trade at 80.12.