A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Fall Ahead Of Fed Meeting

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. Data on nonfarm productivity and unit labor costs for the third quarter will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 86 points to 27,816 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded fell 8.75 points to 3,125.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 26.25 points to 8,329.75.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.1% to trade at $64.24 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 0.1% to trade at $59.00 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.8%, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.8% and German DAX 30 index dropping 1.2%. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 1%, while French CAC 40 Index fell 0.6%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.09%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 0.22%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.10% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.61%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at KeyBanc upgraded Masco Corp MAS from Sector Weight to Overweight and announced a $52 price target.

Masco shares fell 0.8% to close at $45.98 on Monday.

Breaking News

• Vail Resorts, Inc. MTN reported upbeat results for its first quarter on Monday.
• HD Supply Holdings Inc HDS reported better-than-expected Q3 earnings.
• Stitch Fix Inc SFIX reported better-than-expected Q1 results. The company also reported active clients of 3.4 million, up 17% from the same quarter last year. The company announced that CFO Paul Yee will leave the company to pursue other career opportunities.
• Toll Brothers Inc TOL reported better-than-expected Q4 EPS and sales results.