A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Down Ahead Of Macy's Earnings, Economic Data

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from Macy's, Inc. M. Data on retail sales for April and the Empire State manufacturing index for May will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on industrial production for April will be released at 9:15 a.m. ET. Data on business inventories for March and the housing market index for May will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Board of Governors Vice Chairman for Supervision Randal Quarles is set to speak in Washington, DC at 9:30 a.m. ET, while Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President Tom Barkin will speak in New York at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 78 points to 25,492, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 7.5 points to 2,831.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 16.25 points to 7,404.75.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.6 percent to trade at $70.79 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures declined 1.1 percent to trade at $61.11 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.2 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index dropped 0.3 percent and German DAX 30 index dropped 0.5 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.2 percent, while French CAC 40 Index slipped 0.4 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.58 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.52 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.91 percent and India’s BSE Sensex slipped 0.99 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Susquehanna upgraded Applied Materials, Inc. AMAT from Neutral to Positive and raised the price target from $34 to $60.

Applied Materials shares rose 1.2 percent to $40.50 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA announced better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.
• Caesars Entertainment Corporation CZR reported the sale of interest in Emerald Resort & Casino to Peermont Hotels for $49 million.
• Container Store Group Inc TCS reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter and issued strong 2019 guidance.
• Agilent Technologies Inc A reported weaker-than-expected results for its second quarter on Tuesday.