A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Flat Ahead Of Earnings; Netflix Shares Plunge

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mostly flat in early pre-market trade after the Dow Jones jumped around 500 points in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from The Procter & Gamble Company PG, Tesla, Inc. TSLA and Abbott Laboratories ABT.

Data on existing home sales for March will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly is set to speak at 10:30 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans is set to speak at 11:30 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic will speak at 1:00 p.m. ET. The Federal Open Market Committee will release its Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 4 points to 34,845.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 1.50 points to 4,457.75. Futures for the Nasdaq index fell 15.25 points to 14,202.00.

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Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.5% to trade at $107.81 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.8% to trade at $103.34 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 82,416,680 with around 1,016,150 deaths. India reported a total of at least 43,047,590 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 30,279,270 cases.

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A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 0.9%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 1.3% and London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.5%. The French CAC 40 Index climbed 1.5%, while German DAX gained 1.2%. The trade balance in the Eurozone swung to a EUR 7.6 billion deficit for February, versus a EUR 23.6 billion surplus in the year-ago month. Industrial production in the Eurozone rose 0.7% month-over-month in February. Italy recorded a trade deficit of EUR 1.7 billion in February versus a year-ago surplus of 4.8 billion. Annual producer inflation in Germany accelerated to 30.9% in March from 25.9% in February.

Asian markets traded mixed today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.86%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.40% and China’s Shanghai Composite fell 1.35%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.1%, while India’s BSE SENSEX rose 1%. The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Leading Economic Index in Australia climbed 0.3% year-over-year in March. The People's Bank of China maintained its loan prime rate at its April fixing. Japan posted a trade deficit of JPY 412.39 billion in March.

Broker Recommendation

Citigroup upgraded Alphabet Inc. GOOGL from Neutral to Buy and raised the price target from $2965 to $3500.

Alphabet shares rose 1.8% to close at $2,600.18 on Tuesday.

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Breaking News

• Netflix Inc NFLX shares tumbled 27% in pre-market trading after the company reported downbeat revenue for its first quarter. Global streaming paid partnership increased 6.7% year-over-year to 221.64 million, while global streaming paid net additions were down 200 thousand.
• Avient Corporation AVNT announced an agreement to acquire DSM Protective Materials for $1.485 billion.
• International Business Machines Corp IBM announced better-than-expected financial results for its first quarter. The company said it expects full-year 2022 constant currency revenue to grow at the high end of the mid-single digit range. The company continues to expect $10 billion to $10.5 billion in full-year 2022 free cash flow.
• Anthem, Inc. ANTM posted better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter.

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