A Peek Into The Markets: Nasdaq Futures Tumble Following Downbeat Earnings From Meta

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mostly lower in early pre-market trade following downbeat quarterly earnings from Meta Platforms, Inc. FB. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN, Merck & Co., Inc. MRK, Ford Motor Company F and Honeywell International Inc. HON.

The Challenger job-cut report for January is scheduled for release at 7:30 a.m. ET, while data on initial jobless claims, nonfarm productivity and unit labor costs will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. US Services Purchasing Managers' Index for January is scheduled for release at 9:45 a.m. ET, while data on factory orders and ISM's services index for January will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 56 points to 35,436.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures declined 39.75 points to 4,537.50. Futures for the Nasdaq index dipped 275.75 points to 14,838.75.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 76,882,290 with around 917,600 deaths. India reported a total of at least 41,803,310 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 25,813,680 cases.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.7% to trade at $88.86 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 0.8% to trade at $87.52 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

Also check out: NextEra Energy And 2 Other Stocks Bought By Insiders

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 0.5%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.5% and London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.1%. The French CAC 40 Index fell 0.2%, while German DAX dropped 0.4%. The IHS Markit Eurozone services PMI slipped to 51.1 in January from a preliminary reading of 51.2. German services PMI rose to 52.2 in January from 48.7 in December, while French services PMI fell to 53.1 in January from 57. Italy’s services PMI dropped to 48.5 in January from 53 in the previous month, while Spanish services PMI declined to 46.6 in January from 55.8.

Asian markets traded lower today. Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.06%, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.1% and India’s BSE SENSEX dropped 1.1%. Australian services PMI was revised higher to 46.6 in January from a flash reading of 45, while trade surplus shrank to AUD 8.36 billion in December from AUD 9.76 billion in the prior month. The final au Jibun Bank Japan’s services PMI fell to 47.6 in January from 52.1 a month ago, while Indian services PMI declined to 51.5 in January from 55.5 in December.

Broker Recommendation

SVB Leerink maintained Humana Inc. HUM with an Outperform and lowered the price target from $528 to $525.

Humana shares rose 6.4% to $427.00 in pre-market trading.

Check out this: Executives Sell Over $20M Of 5 Stocks

Breaking News

• Meta Platforms, Inc. FB reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter and issued a weak forecast. The company’s quarterly revenue, however, came in above analysts’ estimates.
• Costco Wholesale Corporation COST said January net sales surged 15.5% year-over-year to $15.76 billion.
• QUALCOMM Incorporated QCOM reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter and issued strong forecast for the current quarter.
• McKesson Corporation MCK reported upbeat results for its third quarter and issued strong earnings forecast for FY22.

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