A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Mostly Lower; Netflix Shares Tumble Following Q4 Results

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mostly lower in early pre-market trade after the Dow Jones fell more than 300 points in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Schlumberger Limited SLB, IHS Markit Ltd. INFO, and Ally Financial Inc. ALLY.

The index of leading economic indicators for December is scheduled for release at 10:00 a.m. ET. The LEI is projected to increase 0.7% in December following a 1.1% rise in November.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 20 points to 34,596.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 14 points to 4,460.75. Futures for the Nasdaq index dropped 99.75 points to 14,741.25.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 70,544,860 with around 883,900 deaths. India reported a total of at least 38,566,020 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 23,588,920 cases.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 1.5% to trade at $87.03 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 3.3% to trade at $84.08 a barrel. US crude oil inventories surged 500,000 barrels last week, the EIA said Thursday. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.

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A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index declined 1.3%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 1.5% and London’s FTSE 100 dropped 0.9%. The French CAC 40 Index declined 1.3%, while German DAX dipped 1.3%. Retail sales in the UK fell 3.7% from a month ago in December, while GfK consumer confidence indicator fell to its lowest level in 11 months at minus 19 during January.

Asian markets traded mostly lower today. Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.9%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.05%, while China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.91%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 2.3% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 1.2%. The business confidence indicator in Hong Kong came in unchanged at 1 in the first quarter, while Australia's new home sales surged 11.3% month-over-month in December. Japan's consumer prices increased 0.8% from a year ago in December, accelerating from a 0.6% rise a month ago.

Broker Recommendation

Keybanc analyst Justin Patterson downgraded Netflix Inc NFLX from Overweight to Sector Weight..

Toll Brothers shares fell 20.7% to $403.30 in pre-market trading.

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Breaking News

• Shares of Netflix, Inc. NFLX dropped more than 20% in pre-market trading after the company reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter, but issued weak subscriber growth forecast for the first quarter.
• Blue Ridge Bankshares, Inc. BRBS and FVCBankcorp, Inc. FVCB reported a mutual agreement to terminate their merger deal.
• CSX Corporation CSX reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.
• Intuitive Surgical, Inc. ISRG posted upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter.

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