US Stock Futures Slightly Lower Ahead Of Economic Data

US stock futures are slightly lower this morning, as investors are awaiting economic data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 10 points to 13,423.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 2.30 points to 1,462.00. Nasdaq 100 futures declined 3 points to 2,725.75. US stocks closed mostly lower on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.14% to 13,507.32, the S&P 500 index falling 0.09% to 1,470.68 and the Nasdaq 100 index dropping 0.26% to 3,117.50. The producer price index for December, the Empire State manufacturing index for January and retail sales data for December will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on business inventories for November will be released at 10 a.m. ET. Forest Laboratories FRX is estimated to post a Q3 loss at $0.13 per share on revenue of $764.25 million. Commerce Bancshares CBSH is expected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.72 per share on revenue of $264.43 million. Lennar LEN is expected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.44 per share on revenue of $1.32 billion. Linear Technology LLTC is expected to post its Q2 earnings at $0.40 per share on revenue of $310.54 million. Interactive Brokers Group IBKR is expected to post its Q4 earnings at $0.21 per share on revenue of $280.30 million. Dell DELL is in talks to go private, according to the reports. Majesco Entertainment Company COOL posted a Q4 net loss of $2.7 million, versus a year-ago net loss of $3.9 million. The company projects drop in its fiscal 2013 sales. European markets were slightly higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.01%, London's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.02%, German DAX 30 Index dropped 0.12% and French CAC 40 Index rose 0.07%. Asian markets ended mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rising 0.72%, China's Shanghai Composite jumping 0.60% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index dropping 0.06%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.14% and India's Sensex surged 0.40%. The ICE dollar index (DXY) gained 0.08% to trade at 79.56, up from 79.460 in North America on Monday. The euro fell 0.21% against the dollar to trade at $1.3355, down from $1.3386. Crude-oil for February delivery declined $0.02 to $94.12 a barrel.