A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Edge Lower; All Eyes On Jobs Report

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. Data on nonfarm payrolls and for October and international trade for September will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart is set to speak in Orlando, Fla. at 8:30 a.m. ET, while Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Rob Kaplan will speak in Mexico City at 12:00 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer will speak at the International Monetary Fund at 4:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 20 points to 17,831.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures declined 1.25 points to 2,082.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index slipped 2.75 points to 4,671.50.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures declined 0.41 percent to trade at $46.16 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures also fell 0.01 percent to trade at $44.66 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is schedule for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.94 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 1.17 percent and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.88 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 1.29 percent, while French CAC 40 Index fell 0.93 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.34 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 0.18 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.12 percent and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.57 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Bank of America downgraded Whole Foods Market, Inc. WFM from Neutral to Underperform.

Whole Foods shares fell 1.79 percent to $27.95 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Humana Inc HUM delivered better than expected results for the third quarter. However, the company’s adjusted EPS forecast came in below the estimates. read the full news, click here.



• Starbucks Corporation SBUX reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.25 per share. To read the full news, click here.



• Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc REGN delivered mixed results for the third quarter. While earnings beat estimates, revenue fell shy of the expectations. To read the full news, click here.



• GoPro Inc GPRO reported downbeat results for its third quarter and issued a weak forecast for the current quarter. To read the full news, click here.