A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Down Ahead Of Manufacturing Data

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. The manufacturing PMI for March is schedule for release at 9:45 a.m. ET. Data on construction spending for February and the ISM manufacturing index for March will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari is set to speak in Duluth, Minnesota at 6:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 64 points to 24,083.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures declined 6.25 points to 2,636.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index dipped 34.25 points to 6,559.00.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.65 percent to trade at $69.79 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.40 percent to trade at $65.20 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.48 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index climbing 0.44 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 1.31 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.17 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.72 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.31 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.24 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.18 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.87 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Morgan Stanley downgraded Fitbit, Inc. FIT from Equal-weight to Underweight.

Fitbit shares fell 3.92 percent to $4.90 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Leidos Holdings, Inc. LDOS disclosed that it has won a US air traffic contract worth $117 million.



• Cal-Maine Foods Inc CALM reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its third quarter, while sales exceeded estimates.
• SORL Auto Parts, Inc. SORL reported downbeat earnings for its fourth quarter.



• SYNNEX Corporation SNX posted upbeat earnings for its first quarter, but issued weak earnings outlook for the current quarter.