A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Fall; Inflation Data In Focus

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade after the Dow Jones dipped over 470 points in the previous session. The Consumer Price Index for April will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Analysts expect consumer prices rising a monthly 0.2% in April following a 0.6% increase in the previous month. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Wendys Co WEN, Amdocs Limited DOX and ContextLogic Inc WISH.

The U.S. Treasury budget report for April is scheduled for release at 2:00 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Vice Chair Richard Clarida is set to speak at 9:00 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic will speak at 1:00 p.m. ET. Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker is set to speak at 1:30 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 132 points to 34,051.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 16.25 points at 4,130.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 83 points to 13,263.00.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 32,779,150 with around 582,840 deaths. India reported a total of at least 23,340,930 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 15,282,700 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.7% to trade at $69.01 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.8% to trade at $65.77 a barrel. The American Petroleum Institute, late Tuesday, said crude oil inventories fell 2.533 million barrels for the week ending May 7. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were slightly higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.1% and STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.3%. The French CAC 40 Index rose 0.1%, London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.6% while German DAX 30 rose 0.1%. Manufacturing production in the UK surged 4.8% year-over-year in March, while industrial production rose 1.8% month-over-month. British gross domestic product contracted by 6.1% year-over-year during the first quarter, while trade deficit widened to GBP 2.0 billion in March from revised GBP 0.9 billion in the previous month. French annual inflation rate rose to a 14-month high of 1.2% for April, compared to 1.1% in March.

Asian markets traded mostly lower today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 1.61%, while China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.61%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.78%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.7%, and India’s BSE Sensex fell 1%. Japanese index of leading economic indicators rose to 103.2 in March from a final reading of 98.7 in the prior month, while index of coincident economic indicators rose to 93.1 from 89.9. Building permits in Australia jumped 17.4% month-over-month to 23,176 units in March.

Broker Recommendation

Keybanc maintained EOG Resources, Inc EOG with an Overweight and raised the price target from $85 to $87.

EOG shares rose 1.1% to $83.08 in pre-market trading.

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Breaking News

• Electronic Arts Inc. EA reported upbeat results for its fourth quarter. The company also said it sees FY22 earnings of $1.34 per share and net revenue of $6.8 billion.
• Amazon.com Inc. AMZN CEO Jeff Bezos has sold about $1.7 billion worth of shares in the e-commerce giant, the third time this month he has sold shares.
• Intuit Inc. INTU lowered its guidance for the third quarter. However, the company said expects to exceed the high end of its FY21 guidance.
• Upstart Holdings, Inc. UPST reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter and raised FY21 sales guidance.

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