A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Down; Fed Meeting In Focus

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. The Federal Open Market Committee will begin its two-day policy meeting today.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 32 points to 24,659.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 0.25 points to 2,722.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index dipped 15.25 points to 6,899.00.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 1.04 percent to trade at $66.74 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures gained 0.73 percent to trade at $62.51 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.18 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index climbing 0.03 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.01 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.27 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.03 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.47 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.11 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.35 percent and India’s BSE Sensex gained 0.22 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Oracle Corporation ORCL from Buy to Hold.

Oracle shares fell 8.28 percent to $47.65 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ARNA disclosed that its phase 2 OASIS trial for Ulcerative Colitis treatment met primary and all secondary endpoints. The company plans to initiate a phase 3 trial.



• Oracle Corporation ORCL shares fell over 6 percent in after-hours trading despite reporting a third quarter earnings beat. Adjusted earnings came in at 83 cents per share, beating estimates by 11 cents. Sales came in at $9.776 billion, versus estimates of $9.781 billion. The company also reported that third quarter cloud SaaS sales were up 33 percent year-over-year.



• BlackBerry Ltd BB shares rose over 5 percent in after-hours trading following the announcement of a partnership with Microsoft Corporation MSFT for "Blackberry Enterprise BRIDGE," to allow Microsoft apps, office programs within BlackBerry dynamics.



• Children's Place, Inc. PLCE reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter, while sales misses estimates. The company also announced a $250 million buyback plan.