NEW YORK (AP) ? U.S. stock futures are slipping after retail sales data for January grew slower than expected.
The government said an hour before the market opening Tuesday that retail sales rose 0.4 percent last month. That was up from December, but short of the 0.7 percent rise that economists had expected.
Standard & Poor’s 500 futures are down 2.8 points to 1,346.30, while the Dow Jones Industrial futures edged down 12 points to 12,823. Nasdaq Composite Index futures were flat.
Meanwhile, Moody’s Investors Service lowered its ratings on six European Union countries. The cuts came as eurozone leaders continued to debate the terms of debt reduction for Greece.
World markets are largely higher despite the uncertainty, gaining in London, Germany, Hong Kong and Japan.