A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Down Ahead Of Fed's Beige Book

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade after the Dow Jones tumbled around 270 points in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Korn Ferry KFY, Lululemon Athletica Inc LULU and GameStop Corp. GME

The Labor Department's JOLTS report for July is scheduled for release at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams is set to speak at 1:10 p.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan will speak at 6:00 p.m. ET. The Federal Open Market Committee will release its recent Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 124 points to 34,967.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 12.75 points to 4,506.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 33.75 points to 15,641.00.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 40,280,090 with around 650,530 deaths. India reported a total of at least 33,096,710 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 20,914,230 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.3% to trade at $71.91 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.4% to trade at $68.64 a barrel. The API’s report on crude oil stocks will be released later during the day.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.3% and STOXX Europe 600 Index dropped 1.2%. The French CAC 40 Index declined 1.3%, London’s FTSE 100 dipped 1.1% while German DAX 30 dropped 1.4%. France's trade deficit increased to EUR 6.96 billion in July from revised EUR 6.05 billion in the prior month, while payroll employment in the private sector increased 1.4% to 19.84 million in the second quarter. Retail sales in Italy slipped 0.4% in July.

Asian markets traded mostly lower today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 0.89%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 0.12%, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.04%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.2% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.3%. The Japanese economy grew 0.5% on quarter during the three months to June, while current account surplus rose to JPY 1,910.8 billion in July from JPY 1535.3 billion in the year-ago month.

Broker Recommendation

Keybanc downgraded Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc. HRC from Overweight to Sector Weight.

Hill-Rom shares gained 0.1% to close at $151.88 on Tuesday.

Check out other major ratings here

Breaking News

• Casey's General Stores Inc CASY reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter on Tuesday.
• JetBlue Airways Corporation JBLU appointed Ursula Hurley as Chief Financial Officer, effective immediately.
• Bumble Inc BMBL reported an offering of 15 million shares of common stock by selling shareholders.
• Intel Corp INTC will set aside part of its Ireland facility to make chips for automakers crippled with shortages, CEO Pat Gelsinger said at an event.

Check out other breaking news here