A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Down, All Eyes On Jobs Report

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. Data on nonfarm payrolls and unemployment rate for March will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. US Services Purchasing Managers' Index for March is scheduled for release at 9:45 a.m. ET, while the ISM's non-manufacturing index for March will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

The U.S. is now the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic with the highest number of cases around the world. Total COVID-19 cases in the U.S. exceeded 245,500 with around 6,000 deaths. Spain confirmed a total of over 112,000 cases, while Italy reported a total of at least 115,200 confirmed cases and 13,900 deaths.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 269 points to 21,004 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded fell 30.15 points to 2,486.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 91.25 points to 7,536.00.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 5.8% to trade at $31.68 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 2.1% to trade at $25.84 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is scheduled for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.1%, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.8% and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.6%. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 1.3%, while French CAC 40 Index fell 1.1%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.01%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.19%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.6% and India’s BSE Sensex dropped 2.15%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at B. Riley upgraded Lululemon Athletica Inc. LULU from Neutral to Buy and announced a $210 price target.

Lululemon shares rose 1.1% to close at $185.49 on Thursday.

Breaking News

• Tesla Inc TSLA reported 88,400 deliveries and 102,672 total production in the first quarter, beating analyst expectations.
• Facebook Inc.’s FB COO Sheryl Sandberg disclosed that the company would hire 10,000 additional workers for its product and engineering teams by the end of 2020.
• Dave & Buster's Entertainment Inc PLAY reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter. The company suspended its dividend and buyback program.
• Chewy Inc CHWY reported a Q4 net loss of $0.15 per share, versus a year-ago loss of $0.17 per share. Its revenue climbed to $1.35 billion from $1.09 billion. The company did not issue full-year outlook.