A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Fall Ahead Of Jobless Claims, Fed Speakers

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade after recording losses in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc. HOV, Zumiez Inc. ZUMZ, Dave & Buster's Entertainment Inc PLAY and Verint Systems Inc. VRNT

Data on initial jobless claims for the latest week will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Analysts expect jobless claims rising to 344,000 for the September 4 week from 340,000 in the previous week. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans is set to speak at 11:05 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly will speak at 11:05 a.m. ET. Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan is set to speak at 12:00 p.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman will speak at 1:00 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams is set to speak at 2:00 p.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren will speak at 4:25 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 78 points to 34,934.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 11.50 points to 4,501.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 37 points to 15,583.00.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 40,456,780 with around 652,670 deaths. India reported a total of at least 33,139,980 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 20,928,000 cases.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.2% to trade at $72.46 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 0.3% to trade at $69.07 a barrel. The American Petroleum Institute, late Tuesday, reported a draw of 2.882 million barrels in crude oil inventories for the week ending September 3. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET, while the EIA’s weekly report on petroleum inventories will be released at 11:00 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.1% and STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 0.7%. The French CAC 40 Index declined 0.6%, London’s FTSE 100 tumbled 1.1% while German DAX 30 declined 0.6%. The trade surplus for Germany narrowed to €18.1 billion in July from €19.2 billion in the year-ago period, while current account surplus shrank to EUR 17.6 billion from EUR 20.2 billion.

Asian markets traded mostly lower today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.57%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dipped 2.48%, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.49%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 1.9% and India’s BSE Sensex slipped 0.1%. China's producer prices surged 9.5% year-over-year in August, while annual inflation rate fell to 0.8% in August.

Broker Recommendation

Keybanc maintained ICU Medical, Inc. ICUI with an Overweight and raised the price target from $225 to $302.

ICU Medical shares fell 0.8% to $258.00 in pre-market trading.

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Breaking News

• Lululemon Athletica Inc LULU reported upbeat results for its second quarter and issued strong revenue forecast for the current quarter.
• RH RH reported stronger-than-expected results for its second quarter on Wednesday.
• GameStop Corp. GME reported a wider-than-expected loss for its seond quarter, while sales exceeded estimates.
• ABM Industries Incorporated ABM reported better-than-expected results for its third quarter on Wednesday.

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