A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Edge Lower Ahead Of Earnings, Fed Meeting

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded slightly lower in early pre-market trade after the Nasdaq index climbed more than 100 points in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from General Electric Company GE, 3M Co MMM, Alphabet Inc GOOGL, Visa Inc V and Starbucks Corporation SBUX.

The Federal Open Market Committee will begin its two-day policy meeting today. The S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller home price index and the FHFA house price index for February will be released at 9:00 a.m. ET. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index and the Richmond Fed manufacturing index for April will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 41 points to 33,836.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 1.50 points at 4,178.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 3 points to 14,031.00.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 32,125,090 with around 572,670 deaths. India reported a total of at least 17,636,180 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 14,369,420 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.8% to trade at $65.57 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.9% to trade at $62.44 a barrel. The API’s report on crude stocks will be released later in the day.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly lower today. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.3% and STOXX Europe 600 Index slipped 0.1%. The French CAC 40 Index fell 0.1%, German DAX 30 dropped 0.2% while London's FTSE 100 fell 0.1%. Italy's manufacturing confidence index climbed to 105.4 in April from a revised reading of 101.9 in the previous month, while consumer confidence index surged to 102.3 from 100.9.

Asian markets traded mixed today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.46%, China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.04% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.04%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.2%, while India’s BSE Sensex rose 1.1%. The Bank of Japan maintained its key short-term interest rate at -0.1%. Profits earned by Chinese industrial firms increased by 137.3% from year ago to CNY 1.825 trillion during January-March 2021.

Broker Recommendation

Needham initiated coverage on Uber Technologies, Inc. UBER with a Buy rating and announced a price target of $77.

Uber shares rose 0.9% to $58.10 in pre-market trading.

Check out other major ratings here

Breaking News

• Tesla Inc TSLA reported better-than-expected earnings and sales for its first quarter. Production was 180,338 vehicles in the first quarter, up 76% year-over-year, while deliveries climbed 109% year-over-year to 184,877.
• United Parcel Service, Inc. UPS reported upbeat results for its first quarter.
• LYFT Inc LYFT disclosed that Woven Planet, a subsidiary of Toyota, will acquire its self-driving car division.
• Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. HSII reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter and issued strong Q2 sales guidance.

Check out other breaking news here