A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Edge Lower Ahead Of Economic Data

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for August, data on e-commerce retail sales for the second quarter and the index of leading economic indicators for July will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 27 points to 25,565.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded fell 3.50 points to 2,841.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 13.75 points to 7,376.25.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.84 percent to trade at $72.03 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures gained 0.44 percent to trade at $65.75 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the recent week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index dropping 0.54 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.27 percent and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.40 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.12 percent, while French CAC 40 Index fell 0.21 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.35 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.42 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index declined 1.34 percent and India’s BSE Sensex jumped 0.75 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Cowen & Co. upgraded Colfax Corp CFX from Market Perform to Outperform.

Colfax shares rose 1.45 percent to close at $31.53 on Thursday.

Breaking News

• Deere & Company CSCO reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its third quarter, while sales exceeded views.
• Nordstrom, Inc. JWN reported better-than-expected earnings for its second quarter and raised its 2018 guidance.
• NVIDIA Corporation NVDA reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its second quarter, but issued weak Q3 sales guidance.
• Applied Materials, Inc. AMAT reported better-than-expected results for its third quarter, but issued weak forecast for the current quarter.