A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Down; Apple Shares Drop Following Q4 Results

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. Shares of Apple Inc. AAPL dropped around 3 percent in pre-market trading after the company reported results for its latest quarter. A report on U.S. international trade in goods for September will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the Markit services PMI for October is schedule for release at 9:45 a.m. ET. Data on new home sales for September will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 84 points to 18,013.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures declined 8.50 points to 2,129.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 25.75 points to 4,860.25.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures declined 1.48 percent to trade at $50.04 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures also fell 1.48 percent to trade at $49.22 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories 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 dropping 0.13 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index falling 0.81 percent and German DAX 30 index dropping 1.05 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.98 percent, while French CAC 40 Index fell 0.80 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.15 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 1.02 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.50 percent and India’s BSE Sensex declined 0.94 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Apple Inc. AAPL from Buy to Hold.

Apple shares fell 3 percent to $114.85 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Apple Inc. AAPL reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter. However, revenue of $46.9 billion, down 8.9 percent year-over-year, was in line with expectations. To read the full news, click here.



• The Coca-Cola Co KO reported earnings and revenue that came in higher than the estimates. To read the full news, click here.



• Southwest Airlines Co LUV reported mixed results for the third quarter. While EPS topped, revenue fell shy of expectations modestly. To read the full news, click here.



• Comcast Corporation CMCSA reported better than expected EPS and revenue for the third quarter sending the stock higher in pre-market trading. To read the full news, click here.