A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Down Ahead Of Producer Price Index

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade after the Dow Jones dropped more than 300 points in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from HEXO Corp. HEXO, Skillsoft Corp. SKIL and SeaChange International SEAC.

The Federal Open Market Committee will begin its two-day policy meeting today. The Producer Price Index for November will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Analysts expect producer prices rising 0.5% on a monthly basis in November following a 0.6% increase a month ago.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 57 points to 35,588.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 14.75 points to 4,658.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index dipped 105.25 points to 15,976.75.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 50,018,280 with around 819,310 deaths. India reported a total of at least 34,703,640 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 22,191,940 cases.

Oil prices traded slightly lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.1% to trade at $74.30 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 0.1% to trade at $71.19 a barrel. The API’s report on crude oil stocks will be released today.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mixed today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.5% and STOXX Europe 600 Index slipped 0.1%. The French CAC 40 Index slipped 0.1%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.3% while German DAX 30 fell 0.1%. Industrial production in the Eurozone increased 1.1% from a month ago in October. The UK unemployment rate fell to 4.2% during the three months to October, while the number of employed people rose by 149,000 on quarter to 32.506 million in the same period.

Asian markets traded lower today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.73%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 1.33% and China’s Shanghai Composite declined 0.53%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.01%, while India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.3%. The annual wholesale price inflation rate in India increased to 14.23% in November from 12.54% in the prior month. Industrial production in Japan increased 1.8% in October. The NAB business confidence index in Australia tumbled to 12 in November from 20 in the previous month.

Broker Recommendation

Goldman Sachs downgraded Big Lots, Inc. BIG from Neutral to Sell and lowered the price target from $58 to $43.

Big Lots shares fell 3.8% to $42.30 in pre-market trading.

Check out other major ratings here

Breaking News

• FTI Consulting, Inc. FCN agreed to acquire BOLD.
• MGM Resorts International MGM agreed to sell the operations of The Mirage Hotel & Casino to Hard Rock International for around $1.075 billion in cash.
• J.Jill, Inc. JILL reported better-than-expected results for its third quarter on Monday.
• Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk sold another 934,091 shares in the automaker, worth nearly $906.5 million, on Monday, as per filings made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Check out other breaking news here