A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Edge Lower; All Eyes On Yellen's Speech

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded slightly lower in early pre-market trade, ahead of Janet Yellen speech. The second estimate for Q2 GDP and data on U.S. international trade in goods for July will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The services PMI for August will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET, while the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment for August is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is set to speak at Kansas City Fed's monetary policy symposium, in Jackson Hole, Wyoming at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 6 points to 18,442.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 0.25 points to 2,173.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 2.75 points to 4,779.50.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures declined 0.64 percent to trade at $49.35 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures also fell 0.44 percent to trade at $47.12 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index dropping 0.06 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index falling 0.08 percent and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.24 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.03 percent, while French CAC 40 Index declined 0.06 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.18 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.41 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.06 percent and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.19 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at B. Riley downgraded Nike Inc NKE from Buy to Neutral.

Nike shares fell 0.52 percent to $58.93 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Big Lots, Inc. BIG reported better-than-expected second quarter earnings and boosted its full year earnings forecast. To read the full news, click here.



• GameStop Corp. GME reported in-line earnings for its second quarter, but revenues missed by $90 million. Its comparable same-store sales in the US and internationally were down 12.5 and 5.9 percent, respectively. To read the full news, click here.



• Splunk Inc SPLK reported upbeat earnings for its second quarter and raised FY17 revenue estimates. To read the full news, click here.



• Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance, Inc. ULTA posted stronger-than-expected results for its second quarter. Comparable sales increased 14.4 percent compared to an increase of 10.1 percent in the second quarter of fiscal 2015. To read the full news, click here.