A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Mostly Lower Ahead Of Earnings, Fed Decision

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mostly lower in early pre-market trade after the Nasdaq index dropped around 50 points in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Apple Inc AAPL, Facebook, Inc. FB, Ford Motor Company F, Boeing Co BA and General Dynamics Corporation GD.

Data on U.S. international trade in goods and wholesale inventories for March will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Federal Open Market Committee will announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET, while the Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 45 points to 33,838.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 3.25 points at 4,182.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 19.25 points to 13,933.75.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 32,176,050 with around 573,380 deaths. India reported a total of at least 17,997,110 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 14,441,560 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.1% to trade at $65.96 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.1% to trade at $63.02 a barrel. US crude inventories increased 4.32 million barrels in the week ended April 23, the API said. 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 mostly higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.1% and STOXX Europe 600 Index slipped 0.1%. The French CAC 40 Index rose 0.4%, German DAX 30 gained 0.3% while London's FTSE 100 rose 0.2%. French consumer confidence came in unchanged at 94 in April.

Asian markets traded higher today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.21%, China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.42% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.45%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4%, while India’s BSE Sensex rose 1.7%. The annual inflation rate in Australia climbed to 1.1% in Q1, compared to 0.9% in Q4, while annual food price inflation shrank to 0.7% from 2.3%.

Broker Recommendation

Keybanc maintained Alphabet Inc GOOGL with an Overweight and raised the price target from $2625 to $2681.

Alphabet shares rose 5.2% to $2,409.84 in pre-market trading.

Check out other major ratings here

Breaking News

• Alphabet Inc GOOGL reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter and also announced a $50 billion Class C capital stock buyback program.
• Microsoft Corporation MSFT reported upbeat earnings for its third quarter on Tuesday.
• Starbucks Corporation SBUX reported upbeat earnings for its second quarter, while sales missed views. The company also raised its FY21 guidance.
• Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. AMD reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter and issued strong Q2 sales guidance.

Check out other breaking news here