A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Down Ahead Of ADP Report

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade after the Dow Jones climbed more than 300 points in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Constellation Brands, Inc. STZ, Acuity Brands, Inc. AYI, RPM International Inc. RPM and Levi Strauss & Co. LEVI.

The ADP national employment report for September is scheduled for release at 8:15 a.m. ET. ADP's report is likely to show an addition of 428,000 private payrolls in September, compared to a 374,000 rise in August. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic is set to speak at 9:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 370 points to 33,813.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures declined 56.25 points to 4,277.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 221.75 points to 14,433.50.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 43,950,770 with around 705,280 deaths. India reported a total of at least 33,871,880 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 21,499,070 cases.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.4% to trade at $82.20 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 0.6% to trade at $78.48 a barrel. The American Petroleum Institute, late Tuesday, reported a rise build of 951,000 barrels in crude oil inventories for the week ending October 1. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 2.1% and STOXX Europe 600 Index dipped 2%. The French CAC 40 Index dipped 2.2%, London’s FTSE 100 dropped 1.6% while German DAX 30 declined 2.3%. Eurozone retail sales increased 0.3% from a month ago in August, while construction PMI climbed to 50.0 in September from 49.5 a month ago. The IHS Markit/CIPS construction PMI for the UK dropped to 52.6 in September, while German construction PMI rose to 47.1 in September from 44.6 in August. Spain's industrial production rose 1.8% year-over-year in August versus a revised 3.3% growth in the previous month. French construction PMI increased to 48.9 in September from 44.9 in the earlier month.

Asian markets traded lower today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.05%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.57%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.6% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.9%. Indian services PMI slipped to 55.2 in September from 18-month high level of 56.7 in August. The IHS Markit Hong Kong PMI dropped to a three-month low level of 51.7 in September from 53.3 a month ago.

Broker Recommendation

Morgan Stanley downgraded Seagate Technology Holdings plc STX from Overweight to Equal-Weight and lowered the price target from $118 to $88.

Seagate shares rose 1.2% to close at $85.15 on Tuesday.

Check out other major ratings here

Breaking News

• National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins plans to step down by the end of the year, the agency announced Tuesday.
• Palantir Technologies Inc PLTR reported that it won an $823 million contract from the U.S. Army’s Program Manager for Intelligence Systems and Analytics for the Capability Drop 2 program.
• Pegatron Corp, a key Apple Inc AAPL supplier, is joining hands with Microsoft Corp MSFT to deploy 5G private networks as it looks to tap new growth opportunities amid a maturing smartphone market, Nikkei Asia reported.
• Manchester United plc MANU reported an offering of 9.5 million Class A ordinary shares by selling shareholders.

Check out other breaking news here