A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Edge Lower Ahead Of Earnings, Fed Speakers

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade after the Dow Jones jumped around 250 points in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from General Mills, Inc. GIS, KB Home KBH and Cintas Corporation CTAS.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is set to speak at 8:00 a.m. ET. Data on new home sales for February will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly will speak at 11:45 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 68 points to 34,641.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 9.25 points to 4,495.75. Futures for the Nasdaq index fell 33 points to 14,621.00.

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Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 1.2% to trade at $116.88 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 1.2% to trade at $110.49 a barrel. US crude oil inventories dropped 4.28 million barrels for the week ending March 18, the American Petroleum Institute said Tuesday. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 81,476,260 with around 999,790 deaths. India reported a total of at least 43,012,740 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 29,683,680 cases.

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A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mixed today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 0.1%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.1% and London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.3%. The French CAC 40 Index slipped 0.1%, while German DAX rose 0.1%. Annual inflation rate in the UK accelerated to 6.2% in February from 5.5% in January, while headline rate of output prices rose to 10.1% year-over-year in February.

Asian markets traded mostly higher today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 3%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 1.21% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.34%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5%, while India’s BSE SENSEX fell 0.6%. The index of coincident economic indicators in Japan slipped to 95.6 in January from a revised 95.7 a month ago, while index of leading economic indicators declined to 102.5 in January from a revised 103.7 a month earlier.

Broker Recommendation

Keybanc upgraded T-Mobile US, Inc. TMUS from Sector Weight to Overweight and announced a $155 price target.

T-Mobile US shares rose 0.6% to $126.40 in pre-market trading.

Check out this: Executives Buy More Than $12M Of 3 Stocks

Breaking News

• Adobe Inc. ADBE reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter, but issued a disappointing forecast for the current quarter.
• U.S. cannabis producer Cresco Labs Inc. CRLBF is acquiring its rival Columbia Care CCHWF for $2.1 billion, reported Reuters late Tuesday.
• AAR Corp. AIR reported upbeat results for its third quarter on Tuesday.
• HealthEquity, Inc. HQY reported worse-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.

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