A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Fall Ahead Of Coca-Cola, Lockheed Martin Earnings

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from The Coca-Cola Company KO, Philip Morris International Inc. PM and Lockheed Martin Corporation LMT. Data on existing home sales for March will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

The U.S. is now the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic with the highest number of cases and deaths around the world. Total COVID-19 cases in the U.S. exceeded 787,960 with around 42,360 deaths. Spain confirmed a total of over 200,210 cases, while Italy reported a total of at least 181,220 confirmed cases.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 213 points to 23,275 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded fell 15.5 points to 2,791.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 22.5 points to 8,669.50.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 13.7% to trade at $22.06 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 96.1% to trade at -$1.47 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 1.5%, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 1.6% and German DAX 30 index dropping 2.1%. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 1.6%, while French CAC 40 Index fell 2.1%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.97%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 2.2%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.90% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 3.6%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at UBS downgraded Eli Lilly And Co LLY from Buy to Neutral and raised the price target from $157 to $158.

Eli Lilly shares fell 1.5% to $155.42 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• IBM IBM reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter, while sales missed estimates.
• President Donald Trump announced plans to sign an executive order to temporarily suspend immigration to the United States.
• Steel Dynamics, Inc. STLD reported upbeat results for its first quarter on Monday.
• Darden Restaurants, Inc. DRI disclosed a public offering of up to $400 million of its common stock.