A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Edge Lower Ahead Of Earnings, Economic Reports

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded slightly lower in early pre-market trade after closing mostly flat in the prior session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Walmart Inc WMT, Home Depot Inc HD, and La-Z-Boy Incorporated LZB.

Data on retail sales, import and export prices for October will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on industrial production for October will be released at 9:15 a.m. ET, while data on business inventories and NAHB housing market index will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic is set to speak at 12:00 p.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Patrick Harker will speak at 2:55 p.m. ET. San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly is set to speak at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22 points to 35,987.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 4.75 points to 4,674.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 14.25 points to 16,173.50.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 48,072,890 with around 784,770 deaths. India reported a total of at least 34,456,400 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 21,960,760 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.4% to trade at $82.38 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.3% to trade at $81.15 a barrel. The API’s report on crude oil stocks will be released later during the day.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mixed today. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.3% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 0.2%. The French CAC 40 Index rose 0.2%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.1% while German DAX 30 gained 0.1%. The annual inflation rate in Italy rose to 3% in October from 2.5% in the prior month, while French consumer price inflation rate was confirmed at 2.6% year-over-year in October. The number of people claiming unemployment benefits in the UK fell by 14.9 thousand in October, while unemployment rate fell to 4.3% during the three months to September. Labour productivity in the UK declined 1.2% on quarter during the three months to September.

Asian markets traded mixed today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.11%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.27% and China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.33%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.7%, while India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.5%. Hong Kong’s unemployment rate fell to 4.3% in the August to October period from 4.5% in the prior three-month period.

Broker Recommendation

Morgan Stanley downgraded QuantumScape Corporation QS from Overweight to Equal-Weight..

QuantumScape shares fell 6% to $38.15 in pre-market trading.

Check out other major ratings here

Breaking News

• Advance Auto Parts, Inc. AAP reported better-than-expected earnings and sales results for its third quarter and raised its FY21 guidance.
• Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk sold $946.6 million worth of the automaker’s shares on Monday as per filings made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
• Rackspace Technology, Inc. RXT reported upbeat earnings for its third quarter on Tuesday. The company also said it sees FY21 adjusted earnings of $0.95 to $0.97 per share on sales of $2.998 billion to $3.008 billion.
• JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM has sued Tesla for $162 million in a breach of contract case related to stock warrants.

Check out other breaking news here