A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Flat Ahead Of Earnings

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mostly flat in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from Apple Inc. AAPL, Twitter Inc TWTR, Caterpillar Inc. CAT and McDonald's Corporation MCD. The Federal Open Market Committee will begin two-day policy meeting today. The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index for May is schedule for release at 9:00 a.m. ET, while the Markit Services PMI for July will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET. Data on new home sales for June, the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index for July and the Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index for July will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 4 points to 18,424.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 1 point to 2,161.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 2 points to 18,424.00.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.74 percent to trade at $44.39 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures also dropped 1.04 percent to trade at $42.67 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mixed today, with the Spanish Ibex Index dropping 0.38 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index climbing 0.04 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.29 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.19 percent, while French CAC 40 Index slipped 0.01 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.43 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.62 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.14 percent and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.42 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. CMG from Hold to Sell.

Chipotle shares fell 2.27 percent to $431.51 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Verizon Communications Inc. VZ delivered better-than-expected adjusted earnings for the second quarter. However, its revenue came in slightly below the Street analysts' estimations. To read the full news, click here.



• Texas Instruments Incorporated TXN reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter on Monday. To read the full news, click here.



• E I Du Pont De Nemours And Co DD announced upbeat forecast for the full year following the second quarter results announcement. Both the quarterly numbers and outlook were better than the Street predicted. To read the full news, click here.



• Las Vegas Sands Corp. LVS reported downbeat results for its second quarter on Monday. To read the full news, click here.