A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Flat Ahead Of Earnings, Fed's Beige Book Report

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mostly flat in early pre-market trade after the Dow Jones climbed around 200 points in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Verizon Communications Inc. VZ, Abbott Laboratories ABT, Tesla Inc TSLA and International Business Machines Corporation IBM.

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari is set to speak at 12:00 p.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic will speak at 12:00 p.m. ET.
Chicago Fed President Charles Evans is set to speak at 12:00 p.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Governor Randal Quarles will speak at 1:00 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard is set to speak at 1:45 p.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly will speak at 8:35 p.m. ET. The Federal Open Market Committee will release its latest Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 4 points to 35,319.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures slipped 1.25 points to 4,510.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 3 points to 15,395.50.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 45,996,500 with around 748,650 deaths. India reported a total of at least 34,108,990 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 21,664,870 cases.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.7% to trade at $84.46 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 0.8% to trade at $82.33 a barrel. US crude inventories rose by 3.3 million barrels for the week ended October 15, the API said Tuesday. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mixed today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.1% and STOXX Europe 600 Index climbed 0.1%. The French CAC 40 Index fell 0.2%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.1% while German DAX 30 gained 0.1%. The annual inflation rate in the Eurozone was confirmed at 3.4% in September, while current account surplus shrank to EUR 17.6 billion in August from EUR 24.9 billion. The annual inflation rate in the UK fell to 3.1% in September from a nine-year high level of 3.2% in August, while annual rate of output inflation rose to 6.7% in September. German producer prices rose by 14.2% from a year ago in September. Italy’s current account surplus shrank to EUR 5.03 billion in August from EUR 6.99 billion in the year-ago month.

Asian markets traded mostly higher today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.14%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 1.35% and China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.17%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.5%, while India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.7%. Average new home prices in China climbed 3.8% year-on-year in September, while foreign direct investment into the country surged 19.6% year-over-year to CNY 859.51 billion. The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Leading Economic Index for Australia slipped 0.02% in September. Imports to Japan jumped 38.6% year-on-year to a 34-month high level of JPY 7,463 billion in September, while exports increased 13.0% year-over-year to JPY 6,841 billion.

Broker Recommendation

Mizuho downgraded Micron Technology, Inc. MU from Buy to Neutral and lowered the price target from $90 to $75.

Micron shares fell 1.1% to $66.85 in pre-market trading.

Check out other major ratings here

Breaking News

• Netflix Inc NFLX reported upbeat results for its third quarter on Tuesday. The company added 4.4 million net subscribers, ending the quarter with 214 million paid subscribers.
• Snap Inc SNAP announced Tuesday that its “Quick Tap to Snap” feature would be available on Alphabet Inc GOOGL GOOG subsidiary Google’s Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro smartphones.
• United Airlines Holdings Inc UAL posted a narrower-than-expected loss for its third quarter, while sales exceeded estimates. The company said it remains on track to meet FY22 goals.
• Facebook Inc FB is planning a rebrand, which could be announced as early as Oct. 28, The Verge reported Tuesday.

Check out other breaking news here