A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Down; Amazon Beats Q1 Views

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade after the Dow Jones jumped over 200 points in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Exxon Mobil Corporation XOM, Chevron Corporation CVX, Johnson Controls International PLC JCI, Colgate-Palmolive CL and Phillips 66 PSX.

The employment cost index for the first quarter and data on personal income and consumption expenditures for March for release at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Chicago PMI for April is scheduled for release at 9:45 a.m. ET, while the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for April will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan is set to speak at 9:45 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 58 points to 33,893.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 12.75 points at 4,190.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index dropped 63.75 points to 13,889.75.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 32,289,250 with around 575,190 deaths. India reported a total of at least 18,762,970 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 14,590,670 cases.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.8% to trade at $67.53 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 1.1% to trade at $64.30 a barrel. US natural gas supplies rose 15 billion cubic feet last week, the Energy Information Administration said Thursday. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is scheduled for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.2% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 0.1%. The French CAC 40 Index rose 0.1%, German DAX 30 gained 0.5% while London's FTSE 100 rose 0.3%. Eurozone unemployment rate fell to 8.1% in March from 8.2% in the previous month, while the region’s economy contracted 0.6% on quarter in January-March 2021. Spain's current account deficit increased to EUR 1.71 billion in February from EUR 1.37 billion in the year-ago month. Retail sales in Spain climbed 14.9% year-over-year in March, while GDP shrank 0.5% on quarter during the three months to March 2021. German GDP shrank 1.7% on quarter during the three months to March 2021, while French economy grew 0.4% quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter.

Asian markets traded lower today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.83%, China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.81% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.97%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.8%, while India’s BSE Sensex fell 1.6%. The Caixin China’s general manufacturing PMI climbed to a four-month high level of 51.9 in April from 50.6 a month ago. Japanese housing starts rose 1.5% year-on-year in March, while manufacturing PMI climbed to 53.6 in April from a final reading of 52.7 in March. Japan’s unemployment rate fell to 2.6% in March, while industrial production increased 2.2%. Australia’s producer prices rose by 0.4% quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter.

Broker Recommendation

Keybanc maintained Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN with an Overweight and raised the price target from $3700 to $4000.

Amazon shares rose 2.2% to $3,547.60 in pre-market trading.

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Breaking News

• Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN reported stronger-than-expected results for its first quarter and also issued upbeat Q2 sales guidance.
• Twitter Inc TWTR reported upbeat earnings for its first quarter, but issued weak revenue guidance for the second quarter.
• KKR & Co. Inc. KKR agreed to sell The Bountiful Company to Nestlé for $5.75 billion.
• Western Digital Corporation WDC reported better-than-expected Q3 results and issued strong Q4 guidance.

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