A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Mostly Flat Ahead Of Consumer Price Index

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mostly flat in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from Ingersoll Rand Inc. IR. The Consumer Price Index for April will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the U.S. Treasury budget report for April will be released at 2:00 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard is set to speak at 9:00 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Randal Quarles will speak at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Patrick Harker is set to speak at 12:00 p.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester will speak at 5:00 p.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 1,347,930 with around 80,680 deaths. Russia reported a total of at least 232,240 confirmed cases, while Spain confirmed over 227,430 cases.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 12 points to 24,112 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded fell 1.55 points to 2,921.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index were trading flat at 9,279.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 1.5% to trade at $30.07 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 2.7% to trade at $24.78 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.7%, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.2% and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.2%. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.3%, while French CAC 40 Index fell 0.1%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.12%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.45%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.11% and India’s BSE Sensex slipped 0.64%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Credit Suisse downgraded Williams Companies Inc WMB from Outperform to Neutral.

Williams shares rose 0.1% to $19.55 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Grocery Outlet Holding Corp GO reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter, with a 17.4% growth in comparable store sales.
• The Walt Disney Company DIS is planning a second debt offering this year, according to its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
• Tencent Music Entertainment Group – ADR TME reported weaker-than-expected results for its first quarter on Monday.
• PayPal Holdings Inc. PYPL on Monday announced that it raised $4 billion in a corporate bond offering.