A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Mostly Lower Ahead Of Earnings

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mostly lower in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from several major companies. Data on housing starts for March will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while data on industrial production for March will be released at 9:15 a.m. ET. Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank President Esther George is set to speak in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y. at 9:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 14 points to 20,555.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 5.25 points to 2,339.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 11 points to 5,384.25.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.99 percent to trade at $54.81 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 0.89 percent to trade at $52.18 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index dropping 0.81 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index dropping 0.78 percent and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.54 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 1.67 percent, while French CAC 40 Index fell 1.16 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.35 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 1.39 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.79 percent and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.32 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Bernstein upgraded McDonald's Corporation MCD from Market Perform to Outperform and raised the price target from $129.00 to $160.00.

McDonald's shares rose 0.41 percent to $131.89 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Bank of America Corp BAC reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its first quarter on Tuesday.



• Johnson & Johnson JNJ reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter, but revenue missed expectations.



• Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS reported downbeat earnings for its first quarter on Tuesday.



• Netflix, Inc. NFLX reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter. Subscriber rolls increased by 4.95 million globally in the quarter. However, the company projects 3.2 million net additions in the second quarter.