A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Flat Ahead Of Consumer Credit Report

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mostly flat in early pre-market trade. Data on consumer credit for April will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1 point to 21,155.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 0.50 points to 2,431.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 4.50 points to 5,867.75.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.70 percent to trade at $49.77 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 0.58 percent to trade at $47.91 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.07 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index rising 0.50 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.26 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.06 percent, while French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.87 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.02 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.09 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.23 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.26 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at BMO Capital downgraded PepsiCo, Inc. PEP from Outperform to Market Perform.

PepsiCo shares fell 0.55 percent to $117.05 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc VRX is in talks to sell its Bausch & Lomb unit’s surgical products business to Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, according to sources as reported by Bloomberg. The business could be worth $2 billion in a sale, the sources said.



• United Natural Foods, Inc. UNFI reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter, but sales missed estimates. The company also lowered its FY17 sales outlook.



• Navistar International Corp NAV reported a wider-than-expected loss for its second quarter.



• Ambarella Inc AMBA reported stronger-than-expected results for its first quarter, but issued a weak outlook for the current quarter.