A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Drop Ahead Of Jobless Claims, Factory Orders Data

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. The Challenger job-cut report for September is schedule for release at 7:30 a.m. ET, while data on initial jobless claims for the latest week will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on factory orders for August will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Vice Chairman for Supervision Randal Quarles is set to speak in St. Louis, MO at 8:15 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 99 points to 26,773, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded fell 12.75 points to 2,918.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 45.25 points to 7,619.50.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.25 percent to trade at $86.07 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 0.20 percent to trade at $76.26 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage 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 0.13 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.78 percent and German DAX 30 index dropped 0.24 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 1 percent, while French CAC 40 Index fell 1 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.56 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.73 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed 1.06 percent and India’s BSE Sensex dropped 2.24 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Piper Jaffray upgraded Cummins Inc. CMI from Neutral to Overweight and raised the price target from $143 to $188.

Cummins shares rose 0.31 percent to $151.05 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• VF Corp VFC agreed to sell the Reef brand to The Rockport Group.
• Merck & Co., Inc. MRK disclosed that its DELSTRIGO Phase 3 DRIVE-SHIFT trial met primary efficacy endpoint.
• Cloudera Inc CLDR disclosed that the company will merge with Hortonworks Inc HDP. Hortonworks shareholders will receive 1.305 common shares of Cloudera for each Hortonworks share.
• Pier 1 Imports Inc PIR reported weaker-than-expected results for its second quarter.