A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Down; Crude Oil Falls 1%

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade after the Dow Jones jumped more than 450 points in the previous session. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note traded almost flat at 1.66%. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Cal-Maine Foods Inc CALM.

The Dallas Fed manufacturing index for March is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET. The index is expected to decline to 12.5 in March from February’s reading of 17.2. Fed Governor Christopher Waller will speak at 11:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 172 points to 32,782.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 22.50 points at 3,942.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 72.25 points to 12,894.50.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 30,262,380 with around 549,330 deaths. Brazil confirmed over 12,534,680 cases, while India reported a total of at least 12,039,640 confirmed cases.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 1% to trade at $63.82 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 1.3% to trade at $60.19 a barrel. The total number of active U.S. oil rigs gained by 6 to 324 rigs this week, Baker Hughes Inc said.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mixed today. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.4% and STOXX Europe 600 Index slipped 0.1%. The French CAC 40 Index rose 0.1%, German DAX 30 gained 0.1% while London's FTSE 100 fell 0.5%. Consumer credit in the UK dropped by GBP 1.2 billion in February following a GBP 2.3 billion decline in the earlier month, while number of mortgage approvals for house purchase fell to 87.67 thousand in February.

Asian markets traded mostly higher today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.71%, China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.50% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.01%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.4%, while India’s BSE Sensex rose 1.2%. Hong Kong’s trade deficit narrowed to HKD 14.7 billion in February from HKD 38.6 billion a year earlier.

Broker Recommendation

HC Wainwright & Co. maintained ReneSola Ltd SOL with a Buy and raised the price target from $12 to $15.

ReneSola shares fell 2.3% to $10.51 in pre-market trading.

Check out other major ratings here

Breaking News

• Tencent Music Entertainment Group – ADR TME reported that it has authorized a $1 billion share repurchase program during a twelve-month period starting Monday.
• Netfix Inc. NFLX said it will premiere around 40 new original Japanese style-anime titles this year, almost double the number of titles it released last year.
• Kingsway Financial Services Inc KFS reported adjusted net income of $1 million for the fourth quarter, versus a year-ago loss of $0.7 million.
• Facebook Inc FB is planning two undersea cables, along with Alphabet Inc GOOGL, which will connect Southeast Asia with North America, Reuters reported.

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