A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Signal Lower Start On Wall Street

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. Data on personal income and consumer spending for December will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the pending home sales index for December is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 45 points to 19,969.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 5.75 points to 2,283.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 14.75 points to 5,147.75.

Oil prices traded mixed as Brent crude futures dropped 0.07 percent to trade at $55.48 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures also rose 0.13 percent to trade at $53.24 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.89 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.55 percent and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.69 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.69 percent, while French CAC 40 Index fell 0.85 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.51 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.06 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.31 percent and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.12 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Goldman Sachs upgraded NetApp Inc. NTAP from Neutral to Buy.

NetApp shares rose 1.32 percent to $38.26 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Shares of Fitbit Inc FIT dropped around 11 percent in pre-market trading following report that the company will lay off 5 to 10 percent of workforce.



• Shares of Tempur Sealy International Inc TPX dropped around 30 percent in pre-market trading following announcement of termination of Mattress Firm Holding Corp MFRM contracts.



• Keysight Technologies Inc KEYS announced plans to buy Ixia XXIA in an all-cash deal at $19.65 per share.



• Regulus Therapeutics Inc RGLS reported the continuation of RG-101 clinical hold.