A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Tumble Ahead Of Economic Reports

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. Data on retail sales for July, the Empire State manufacturing index for August and nonfarm productivity for the second quarter will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on industrial production for July will be released at 9:15 a.m. ET. Data on business inventories for June and the housing market index for August will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 153 points to 25,141.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded fell 15.25 points to 2,825.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 50 points to 7,405.50.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.98 percent to trade at $71.75 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures slipped 1.24 percent to trade at $66.21 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 1.06 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.55 percent and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.35 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 1 percent, while French CAC 40 Index fell 0.64 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.68 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.55 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index declined 2.08 percent and India’s BSE Sensex jumped 0.55 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at MKM Partners upgraded Hasbro, Inc. HAS from Neutral to Buy and raised the price target from $92 to $115.

Hasbro shares rose 0.55 percent to $98.67 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Performance Food Group Co PFGC reported weaker-than-expected results for its fourth quarter and issued downbeat FY19 earnings forecast.
• Diamondback Energy Inc FANG announced plans to acquire Energen Corporation EGN for 0.6442 Diamondback shares per Energen share. The deal values Energen at $84.95 per share and is worth $9.2 billion.
• GoDaddy Inc. GDDY reported the pricing of 10.4 million share common stock offering at $75.75 per share.
• Agilent Technologies Inc A reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter.