US Stock Futures Edge Lower Ahead Of Home Sales Report

Pre-open movers

US stock futures traded slightly lower in early pre-market trade. Data on new home sales for January will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 3 points to 18,183.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 2.20 points to 2,111.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 7.25 points to 4,443.00.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.09%, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.15% and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.08%. French CAC 40 Index fell 0.26% and London's FTSE 100 Index fell 0.32%. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.10%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.11%, China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.56% and India's BSE Sensex gained 0.01%. The preliminary HSBC China manufacturing PMI climbed to 50.1 in February, versus a final reading of 49.7 in January.

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Breaking news

Shares of Lowe's Companies Inc. LOW surged over 2.5% in pre-market trading after the company reported better-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter. To read the full news, click here.
Solazyme SZYM announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a favorable response to Solazyme's notification which concludes that high-oleic algae oil is Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) as an ingredient in food products under the intended conditions of use. To read the full news, click here.
Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. MGIC announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a 70% stake, with an option to increase the holding to 100%, in a profitable Israeli-based company that specializes in software professional services for mainframes and complex large-scale environments. To read the full news, click here.
Hewlett-Packard Company HPQ announced financial results Tuesday for its fiscal 2015 first quarter ended January 31, 2015. Revenue came in at $26.8 billion, below estimates of $27.34 billion and the $28.2 billion reported in the prior year period. Non-GAAP EPS was $0.92, $0.01 above expectations and above the $0.90 reported in the first quarter of fiscal 2014. To read the full news, click here.