A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Signal Lower Start On Wall Street

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings reports from several companies. U.S. stocks closed lower Monday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbling 4.6 percent, or 1,175 points to close at 24,345.75. The international trade report for December is schedule for release at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the Labor Department's JOLTS report for December is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET. St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard is set to speak in Lexington, Kentucky at 8:50 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 178 points to 23,777.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 10.50 points to 2,602.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 26.75 points to 6,407.75.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.80 percent to trade at $67.08 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures slipped 0.72 percent to trade at $63.69 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 2.31 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index falling 2.03 percent and German DAX 30 index dropping 1.99 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 2.17 percent, while French CAC 40 Index fell 2.10 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 4.73 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 5.12 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index dipped 3.35 percent and India’s BSE Sensex dropped 1.61 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Imperial Capital downgraded Radware Ltd. RDWR from Outperform to In-line.

Radware shares fell 3.41 percent to close at $19.57 on Monday.

Breaking news

• Becton Dickinson and Co BBDX reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter.



• Gartner Inc IT reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.



• AmerisourceBergen Corp. ABC reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its first quarter.



• Cirrus Logic, Inc. CRUS reported downbeat earnings for its third quarter and issued a weak FY18 sales guidance. The company announced a $200 million buyback plan.