A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Down Ahead Of Earnings, Jobless Claims Data

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade, after recording losses in the earlier session following an increase in Covid-19 cases. Investors are awaiting earnings from Macy's Inc M, Williams-Sonoma, Inc. WSM and Intuit Inc. INTU.

Data on initial jobless claims for the latest week and the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index for November will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on existing home sales for October and the index of leading economic indicators for October will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Kansas City Fed manufacturing index for November will be released at 11:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester is set to speak at 8:30 a.m. ET, while Fed Governor Michelle Bowman will speak at 12:35 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 106 points to 29,285.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded fell 11.75 points to 3,553.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 49.50 points to 11,847.50.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 11,529,800 with around 250,530 deaths. India reported a total of at least 8,958,480 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 5,945,840 cases.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.7% to trade at $44.04 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 1.1% to trade at $41.37 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 lower today. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 1% and STOXX Europe 600 Index declined 0.9%. The French CAC 40 Index fell 0.9%, while German DAX 30 declined 0.9% and London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.9%. The Eurozone construction output fell 2.5% year-over-year in September versus a revised 0.4% rise in the previous month, while current account surplus shrank to EUR 33.5 billion in September from EUR 38.3 billion.

Asian markets traded mostly lower today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.36%, China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.47%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 0.71% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 1%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 traded higher by 0.3%. Japan posted a trade surplus of JPY 872.9 billion in October versus a JPY 11.2 billion surplus in the year-ago period.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Citigroup Inc C from Market Perform to Outperform and announced a $65 price target.

Citigroup shares fell 0.6% to $50.75 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• NVIDIA Corporation NVDA reported upbeat results for its third quarter and issued strong sales forecast for the current quarter.
• Michigan-based electric vehicle company Electric Last Mile Solutions is in talks with blank check company Forum Merger III Corp FII to go public through a reverse merger, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.
• Nuance Communications Inc. NUAN reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Wednesday.
• AstraZeneca plc's AZN COVID-19 vaccine developed in collaboration with the University of Oxford is safe and triggers a similar immune response among all adults, as per the preliminary findings of a peer-reviewed phase two trial, CNBC reported.