A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Edge Lower; Alphabet Earnings In Focus

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded slightly lower in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from Alphabet Inc GOOGL. Alphabet will release earnings after the closing bell. The flash Composite PMI for July is schedule for release at 9:45 a.m. ET, while data on existing home sales for June will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. The International Monetary Fund cut its U.S. economic growth outlook for 2017 and 2018.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 18 points to 21,500, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 3 points to 2,466.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 6.25 points to 5,912.50.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.94 percent to trade at $48.51 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures gained 0.83 percent to trade at $46.15 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.32 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.44 percent and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.47 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 1.02 percent, while French CAC 40 Index slipped 0.09 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.62 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.53 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.39 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.68 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at UBS downgraded Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS from Buy to Neutral.

Goldman Sachs shares fell 0.44 percent to $219.21 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• VF Corp VFC reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter.



• WebMD Health Corp. WBMD agreed to be acquired by a KKR portfolio company for $66.50 per share in cash.



• Halliburton Company. HAL posted stronger-than-expected earnings for its second quarter.



• Hibbett Sports, Inc. HIBB issued a weak forecast for the second quarter.