US Stock Futures Signal Lower Start On Wall Street, Nokia Down In Pre-Market Trading

US stock futures are lower this morning. Shares of Nokia Corp

dropped in pre-market trading as the company unveiled partnership with Microsoft Corp

. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 48 points to 12,146.00, while those for the S&P 500 index declined 6.6 points to 1,312.20. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index lost 10 points to 2,351.75. US stock markets closed mixed yesterday, with the Dow dropping 0.09%, the S&P 500 gaining 0.07% and Nasdaq 100 rising 0.05%. The December trade balance will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while data on consumer-sentiment for February is due at 3 p.m. ET. Expedia Inc

reported its Q4 net income at $71.3 million, or $0.25 per share, versus $102.2 million, or $0.35 per share, in the year-earlier period. The company's revenue increased 16% y/y to $808.4 million. Excluding one-time items, Expedia's earnings came in at $0.32 per share. However, analysts had expected earnings of $0.36 per share on revenue of $802.6 million. Kraft Foods Inc

reported its Q4 net income at $540 million, or $0.31 per share, compared with $710 million, or $0.48 per share, in the year-ago period. The company's net revenue surged 30% y/y to $13.8 billion. Shares of Nokia dropped more than 8% in pre-market trading after the company reported many company changes and announced its plans to use the mobile operating system of Microsoft for its smartphones. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced that he would give some powers to his vice president, but refused to resign immediately. Negative sentiment ruled the European markets today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has dropped 0.58%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.39%. Asian markets ended mixed, with Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropping 0.62% and China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.32%. Crude-oil futures for March delivery gained $0.08 to $86.80 a barrel. Gold futures for April delivery dropped $3.20 to $1,359.20 an ounce. Read more