A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Flat Following Wednesday's Slump

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mostly flat in early pre-market trade, after falling sharply in the prior session. Data on initial jobless claims for the latest week, durable goods orders for May, Gross Domestic Product for the first quarter, international trade in goods for May and wholesale inventories for May will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Kansas City Fed manufacturing index for June is scheduled for release at 11:00 a.m. ET. Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan is set to speak at 9:30 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic will speak at 11:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester is set to speak at 12:00 p.m. ET.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 2,381,360 with around 121,970 deaths. Russia reported a total of at least 613,140 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 1,188,630 cases.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 9 points to 25,402 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 1.75 points to 3,050.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 28 points to 10,038.75.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.8% to trade at $40.22 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 1% to trade at $37.65 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.6% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.2%. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.2%, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.2% and German DAX 30 gained 0.6%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.22% and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.5%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Evercore ISI Group downgraded KB Home KBH from Outperform to In-Line and lowered the price target from $39 to $33.

KB Home shares fell 13.9% to $28.70 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• BlackBerry Ltd BB reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter, while sales missed views.
• KB Home KBH reported upbeat profit for its second quarter, while sales missed expectations.
• SoftBank Group Corp SFTBY CEO Masayoshi Son announced that he is resigning from the board of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA.
• Ally Financial Inc ALLY reported a mutual deal to terminate its merger with CardWorks.