A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Down Ahead Of March Inflation Report

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early premarket trade after the Nasdaq Composite index closed at 13,411.96, a dip of almost 300 points. Investors are awaiting the annual inflation number for March, which is forecasted at 8.4%, a steep rise from 7.9% in February.

The consumer price index for March is set to be released at 7:30 a.m. E.T. The monthly report is expected to reflect the full-fledged impact of the brewing energy crisis in wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 158 points to 34,061.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 18.25 points to 4,391.00. Futures for the Nasdaq index shed 31.25 points to 13,970.00.

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Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 2.19% to trade at $100.64 per barrel, while U.S. WTI crude futures rose 2.26% to trade at $96.42 a barrel.

This rise in the oil market followed China easing COVID-19 restrictions in Shanghai. Also, the OPEC issued a warning against a possible deficit in the supply if the EU issues an oil embargo on Russia.

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A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 0.56%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.26% and London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.59%. The French CAC 40 Index fell 0.97% and the German DAX dropped 1.09%.

The U.K. unemployment rate declined to 3.8% in the three months to February of 2022, in line with market expectations. The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for Germany decreased by 1.7 points to -41 in April , the lowest since March 2020 but above market expectations of -48.

Asian markets traded mostly lower today, with the exception of Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite indices. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.81%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.52%, and China’s Shanghai Composite surged 1.46%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.42%, while India’s BSE SENSEX fell 0.52%.

The NAB business confidence index in Australia improved to a five month-high of 16 in March, negating any adverse impact from events in Ukraine. The annual inflation rate in India surged for a fifth straight month to 6.07% in February. Exports from China grew 16.3% to $544.7 billion year-on-year in January and February combined.

Broker Recommendation

BofA Securities downgraded Fortune Brands Home FBHS from Buy to Underperform, expecting FBHS to fall within 12 months.

Fortune Brands Home shares dipped 0.04% to $71.35 in pre-market trading.

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Breaking News

The telecom equipment giant Nokia Corp. NOK is exiting Russia amid the Ukraine invasion. In an official statement, the company mentioned that this move will not have any financial impact, as Russia accounted for less than 2% of the net sales in the previous year.

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd (CATL), battery supplier for Tesla Inc TSLA and Nio Inc NIO, has installed 10.81 GWh of power batteries in China in March, regaining more than 50% market share.

More than $456 million was liquidated from 146,000 cryptocurrency traders on Monday. Bitcoin BTC/USD fell to an intraday low of $39,373.

Biodesix Inc. BDSX, a lung disease-focused diagnostics company, witnessed an 80% spike in stock prices in the after hours on Monday. This surge was in response to a series of filings by the company disclosing stock purchases by its chairman and a couple of its directors.