A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Down Ahead Of Jobless Claims, Housing Starts Data

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. Data on housing starts for January, jobless claims for the latest week and the Philadelphia Fed general conditions index for February will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 34 points to 20,589.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures slipped 4.25 points to 2,346.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 2.50 points to 5,307.50.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures gained 0.70 percent to trade at $56.14 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.56 percent to trade at $53.90 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.38 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.34 percent and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.26 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.49 percent, while French CAC 40 Index fell 0.44 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.0473 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.47 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.52 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.52 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Wells Fargo downgraded Analog Devices, Inc. ADI from Outperform to Market Perform.

Analog Devices shares rose 4.83 percent to close at $81.60 on Wednesday.

Breaking news

• Cisco Systems, Inc. CSCO reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.29 per share.



• Avon Products, Inc. AVP reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter on Thursday.



• Tripadvisor Inc TRIP posted weaker-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Wednesday.



• Wendys Co WEN reported downbeat earnings for its fourth quarter, but sales exceeded estimates.