A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Mostly Flat Ahead Of Earnings; Crude Oil Rebounds

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mostly flat in early pre-market trade after the Dow Jones dropped over 100 points in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from SYSCO Corporation SYY Coinbase Global Inc COIN and TransDigm Group Incorporated TDG.

Data on nonfarm productivity and unit labor costs for the second quarter will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Analysts expect productivity increasing at an annual rate of 3.5% in the quarter, while unit labor costs are expected to rise at a rate of 1.2%. Chicago Fed President Charles Evans is set to speak at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 16 points to 34,982.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 1 point to 4,424.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 7 points to 15,132.25.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 35,948,170 with around 617,320 deaths. India reported a total of at least 31,998,150 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 20,177,750 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 1.7% to trade at $70.24 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures gained 2.2% to trade at $67.92 a barrel. The API’s report crude stocks will be released later during the day.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were slightly higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.1% and STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.2%. The French CAC 40 Index rose 0.1%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.1% while German DAX 30 gained 0.1%.

Asian markets traded higher today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.24%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.23%, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed 1.01%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.3% and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.1%. The NAB business confidence index for Australia declined to -8 in July, versus a reading of 11 in June. Building permits in Australia dipped 6.7% to 18,911 units in June. Japanese current account surplus jumped significantly to JPY 905.1 billion in June from JPY 148.3 billion in the same month of the earlier year.

Broker Recommendation

Jefferies downgraded Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. BECN from Buy to Hold and lowered the price target from $69 to $56.

Beacon Roofing Supply shares fell 0.6% to $53.07 in pre-market trading.

Check out other major ratings here

Breaking News

• AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc AMC reported stronger-than-expected results for its second quarter. The company said it currently has liquidity availability of more than $2 billion. AMC also announced plans to begin accepting apex cryptocurrency Bitcoin as payment for move tickets and concessions by the end of this year.
• Hotel-deal booking specialists HotelPlanner and Reservations.com are close to signing a merger deal and go public via Astrea Acquisition Corp ASAX, a special purpose acquisition company, The Wall Street Journal reported.
• 3D Systems Corporation DDD reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter on Monday.
• SmileDirectClub, Inc. SDC reported downbeat Q2 results and also issued weak FY21 sales guidance.

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