A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Fall; Fed Meeting In Focus

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade, after posting a rise in the prior session. Investors are awaiting earnings reports from Tiffany Inc. TIF, Conn's Inc. CONN, Signet Jewelers Inc. SIG, Brown Forman Inc (NYSE: BF-B) and GameStop Inc. GME. The Federal Open Market Committee will begin its two-day policy meeting today. The Labor Department's JOLTS report for April and data on wholesale inventories for April will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world. Total coronavirus cases in the U.S. exceeded 1,961,180 with around 111,000 deaths. Russia reported a total of at least 484,630 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 707,410 cases.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 316 points to 27,211 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded fell 30.50 points to 3,197.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 54.50 points to 9,830.25.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 1.6% to trade at $40.13 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 2.3% to trade at $37.32 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 2.3% and STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 1.3%. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 1.7%, while French CAC 40 Index slipped 1.7% and German DAX 30 dropped 1.9%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.38%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.13%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.62% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 1.2%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at KeyBanc upgraded Wix.Com Ltd WIX from Sector Weight to Overweight and announced a $250 price target.

Wix.com shares rose 1.3% to $218.00 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Casey's General Stores Inc CASY reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter, while sales exceeded views.
• The Eurozone economy contracted by 3.6% quarter-over-quarter during the first quarter, versus preliminary estimates for a 3.8% contraction, according to the European Union's statistics agency.
• Macy’s Inc. M announced on Monday that it had raised a total of $4.5 billion in new financing round.
• Stitch Fix Inc SFIX reported downbeat results for its third quarter on Monday.