A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Edge Lower Following Monday's Rally; Crude Oil Rises 2%

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded slightly lower in early pre-market trade after the Dow Jones jumped over 370 points in the previous session following better-than-expected jobs report. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Paychex, Inc. PAYX, Smart Global Holdings Inc SGH and Greenbrier Companies Inc GBX.

The Labor Department's JOLTS report for February will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Analysts expect job openings declining to 6.850 million in February after increasing sharply to 6.917 million in January.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 11 points to 33,404.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 5.50 points at 4,062.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 27.75 points to 13,557.75.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 30,785,390 with around 555,610 deaths. Brazil confirmed over 13,013,600 cases, while India reported a total of at least 12,686,040 confirmed cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 1.9% to trade at $63.31 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 2% to trade at $59.81 a barrel. The API’s report on crude inventories will be released today.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today . The Spanish Ibex Index rose 1% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 0.8%. The French CAC 40 Index rose 0.7%, German DAX 30 gained 1% while London's FTSE 100 rose 1.2%. New car registrations in the UK increased 11.5% year-over-year to 283,964 units in March, while the number of people registered as unemployed in Spain dropped 59,149 from a month ago to 3.95 million during March.

Asian markets traded mixed today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.3%, China’s Shanghai Composite slipped 0.04% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.97%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.8%, while India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.1%. The Reserve Bank of Australia held its cash rate at a record low of 0.1% during its latest meeting. China’s General Composite PMI climbed to 53.1 in March from 51.7 a month ag, while Services PMI rose to 54.3 from 51.5. Household spending in Japan declined 6.6% in real terms in February from a year ago period.

Broker Recommendation

Evercore ISI Group initiated coverage on Pinterest, Inc. PINS with an Outperform rating and announced a price target of $97.

Pinterest shares rose 0.2% to $79.71 in pre-market trading.

Check out other major ratings here

Breaking News

• Illumina, Inc. ILMN raised its FY21 sales growth guidance from 17%-20% year over year to 25-28% year over year. The company also issued strong sales forecast for the first quarter.
• Japan Airlines Co Ltd JAPSY said it has retired all of its Boeing Co’s BA 777 jets powered by Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines, a year earlier than scheduled after suspending operations in February.
• SeaSpine Holdings Corp SPNE boosted its sales forecast for FY21 and also issued strong sales guidance for the first quarter.
• Facebook Inc. FB is clashing with Apple Inc. AAPL over document requests related to the legal dispute between “Fortnite” video game developer Epic Games Inc. and App Store, AppleInsider reported Monday.

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