A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Signal Lower Start On Wall Street; Crude Oil Down 2%

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded sharply lower in early pre-market trade after recording losses in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Lennar Corporation LEN and Cognyte Software Ltd CGNT.

The housing market index for September is scheduled for release at 10:00 a.m. ET. The housing market index, which declined to 75 in August, is expected to hold at the same level in September.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 523 points to 33,939.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 56 points to 4,365.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 161.50 points to 15,164.50.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 42,087,480 with around 673,760 deaths. India reported a total of at least 33,478,410 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 21,239,780 cases.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 2% to trade at $73.82 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 2.3% to trade at $70.30 a barrel. The total number of active U.S. oil rigs rose by 10 to 411 rigs this week, Baker Hughes Inc reported Friday.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.7% and STOXX Europe 600 Index dropped 1.8%. The French CAC 40 Index declined 2%, London’s FTSE 100 dipped 1.5% while German DAX 30 tumbled 2%. German producer prices increased 12.0% year-over-year in August following a 10.4% growth in the prior month. Spanish trade deficit widened to EUR 1.60 billion in July, compared to EUR 0.31 billion in the year-ago month.

Asian markets traded lower today. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dipped 3.3%, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 2.2% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.7%.

Broker Recommendation

Jefferies downgraded Lear Corporation LEA from Buy to Hold and lowered the price target from $200 to $171.

Lear shares fell 2% to $150.00 in pre-market trading.

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Breaking News

• The FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee voted against recommending a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer, Inc. PFE and BioNTech SE – ADR BNTX to the general population.
• A volcano erupted on Sunday in La Palma, one of Spain’s Canary Islands. The local authorities and the institute have urged members of the public to stay away from the area.
• Olympic Steel, Inc. ZEUS reported the sale of Detroit assets and operations to Venture Steel Inc. for $58.4 million in cash.
• Exelixis, Inc. EXEL reported the US FDA approval of CABOMETYX (cabozantinib) for patients with previously treated radioactive iodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer.

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