US Stock Futures Down Ahead Of Powell, PMI Data; Crude Oil Falls Sharply

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade on Friday after recording losses on Thursday. The Dow Jones closed lower by more than 100 points, while the Nasdaq Composite fell around 150 points in the previous session after the US Federal Reserve, on Wednesday, raised its policy rate by 75 basis points for the third time.

The flash Composite Purchasing Managers' Index for September is scheduled for released at 9:3450 a.m. ET. Analysts expect services PMI rising slightly to 45.0 in September from 43.7 in August, while manufacturing index is seen at 51.3 versus previous reading of 51.5.

US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is set to speak at 2:00 p.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard Lael Brainard and Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman will speak at 2:05 p.m. ET.

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Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 124 points to 30,025.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 17.75 points to 3,754.25. Futures for the Nasdaq index fell 66.75 points to 11,498.75.

Commodities

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 2% to trade at $87.71 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 2.2% to trade at $81.63 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is scheduled for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Gold futures declined 0.6% to trade at $1,671.40 an ounce, while silver traded down 0.6% at $19.495 an ounce on Friday.

 

A Peek Into Global Markets

Europe Markets

European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 0.7%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.8% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 1%. The French CAC 40 Index fell 0.5%, while German DAX dropped 0.5%.

The S&P Global Flash Eurozone services PMI declined to 48.9 in September from 49.8 in August, while manufacturing PMI slipped to 48.5 from 49.6. The S&P Global Flash Eurozone Composite PMI dropped to 48.2 in September from August’s reading of 48.9.

The S&P Global/CIPS UK manufacturing PMI climbed to 48.5 in September from 47.3 a month ago, while GfK consumer confidence indicator declined to -49 in September from -44 in the previous month. French composite PMI increased to 51.2 in September versus a 17-month low level of 50.4 in August, while German composite PMI declined to 45.9 from 46.9 in August. Spanish quarterly economic growth accelerated to 1.5% in the second quarter versus a preliminary reading of 1.1%.

Asia-Pacific Markets

Asian markets traded lower today. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.18% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.66%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.9%, while India’s S&P BSE SENSEX fell 1.5%.

The S&P Global flash Manufacturing PMI for Australia increased to 53.9 in September from a final level of 53.8 in August, while services PMI rose to 50.4 from 50.2.

 

Broker Recommendation

Stephens & Co. initiated coverage on Sysco Corporation SYY with an Overweight rating and announced a price target of $90.

Sysco shares fell 1.4% to close at $77.38 on Thursday.

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Breaking News

 

• FedEx Corporation FDX said its adjusted earnings per share dropped to $3.44 for the quarter ended Aug 31 compared to $4.37 in the year-ago period, while revenue increased to $23.2 billion from $22 billion.
• Raytheon Technologies Corp. RTX has won an almost $1-billion contract to design, develop, and produce a new hypersonic weapon for the U.S. Air Force, beating rivals Lockheed Martin Corp. LMT and Boeing Co BA.
• Costco Wholesale Corporation COST reported better-than-expected results for its fiscal fourth quarter on Thursday
• AAR Corp. AIR reported upbeat earnings for its first quarter, while sales missed estimates.

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