A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Down Following Wednesday's Sell-Off

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade after the Dow Jones dipped over 680 points in the previous session amid rising inflationary pressures. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd – ADR BABA, Walt Disney Co DIS and Coinbase Global Inc COIN.

Data on initial jobless claims for the latest week will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Jobless claims are likely to decline to 475,000 for the May 8 week from 498,000 in the previous week. The Producer Price Index for April is scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin is set to speak at 10:00 a.m. ET, while Fed Governor Christopher Waller will speak at 1:00 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard is set to speak at 4:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 171 points to 33,337.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 11.75 points at 4,047.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 27 points to 12,971.50.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 32,814,940 with around 583,680 deaths. India reported a total of at least 23,703,660 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 15,359,390 cases.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 2.1% to trade at $67.90 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 2.1% to trade at $64.67 a barrel. US crude-oil inventories dropped 400,000 barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said Wednesday. The EIA’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.8% and STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 1.6%. The French CAC 40 Index dropped 1.9%, London’s FTSE 100 dipped 2.3% while German DAX 30 fell 2%.

Asian markets traded lower today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 2.49%, while China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.96%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.81% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.9%. Foreign direct investment into China jumped 38.6% year-over-year to CNY 397.07 billion in January-April 2021. Japanese current account surplus widened to JPY 2,650 billion during March, compared to JPY 1,929 billion in the year-earlier month.

Broker Recommendation

Keybanc upgraded Pioneer Natural Resources Company PXD from Sector Weight to Overweight and announced a $178 price target.

Pioneer Natural shares fell 0.7% to $155.01 in pre-market trading.

Check out other major ratings here

Breaking News

• Boot Barn Holdings Inc BOOT reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.
• GrowGeneration Corp. GRWG reported better-than-expected Q1 results and raised guidance.
• Fuel Tech Inc FTEK reported upbeat results for its first quarter on Wednesday.
• The federal transport safety agency has opened a new probe into a Tesla Inc TSLA vehicle crash that took place near Fontana, California on May 5.

Check out other breaking news here