A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Edge Lower Ahead Of Fed Minutes

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded slightly lower in early pre-market trade. New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley is set to speak in Albany at 8:00 a.m. ET, while Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank President Esther George will speak at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's Annual Payment Symposium at 9:40 a.m. ET. The Federal Open Market Committee will issue minutes of its latest meeting at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 11 points to 18,059.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures declined 0.50 points to 2,134.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 4.50 points to 4,822.50.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures gained 0.55 percent to trade at $52.70 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures also rose 0.49 percent to trade at $51.49 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mixed today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.23 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index rising 0.12 percent and German DAX 30 index declining 0.06 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.14 percent, while French CAC 40 Index slipped 0.08 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.09 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.60 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.22 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.08 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Credit Suisse upgraded Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. AMD from Underperform to Neutral and raised the price target from $5.50 to $7.00.

AMD shares rose 1.54 percent to $6.60 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Shares of Newell Brands Inc NWL surged nearly 20 percent after the company disclosed a definitive agreement with Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. SWK to divest its tools unit for about $1.95 billion. The companies expect the transaction to be completed in the first half of next year subject to regulatory approvals. To read the full news, click here.

• The British pound is tanking due to ongoing uncertainty and concerns involving Brexit yet the largest U.S.-listed U.K. exchange-traded fund saw an inflow of $96 million on Tuesday. To read the full news, click here.



• Barracuda Networks Inc CUDA posted stronger-than-expected results for its second quarter on Tuesday. Barracuda reported Q2 EPS of $0.21 and revenue of $87.9 million beat the Street’s consensus by $0.08 and $2.63 million, respectively.



• Fortinet Inc FTNT lowered its outlook for the third quarter on Tuesday.