A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Flat Ahead Of Trump's Speech

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mostly flat in early pre-market trade. Data on Gross Domestic Product for the fourth quarter and U.S. international trade in goods will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller home price index for December will be released at 9:00 a.m. ET, while the Chicago PMI for February is schedule for release at 9:45 a.m. ET. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index for February will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker is set to speak in Philadelphia, Penn. at 3:00 p.m. ET, while San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams is set to speak in Santa Cruz, Calif. at 3:30 p.m. ET. St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President Bullard will speak at George Washington University in D.C. at 6:30 p.m. ET, while President Donald Trump is set to speak at 9:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 7 points to 20,820.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 0.25 points to 2,368.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 0.75 points to 5,348.25.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures dropped 0.30 percent to trade at $55.76 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 0.30 percent to trade at $53.89 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.88 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.07 percent and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.10 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.05 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.09 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.06 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.77 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.40 percent and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.24 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Citigroup downgraded Workday Inc WDAY from Neutral to Sell and raised the price target from $73.00 to $77.00.

Workday shares fell 5.4 percent to $85.33 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Target Corporation TGT reported downbeat earnings for its fourth quarter and issued a weak outlook for the current quarter.



• Priceline Group Inc PCLN reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Monday.



• SeaWorld Entertainment Inc SEAS reported a wider-than-expected loss for its fourth quarter on Tuesday.



• Tricon Capital Group Inc. announced plans to buy Silver Bay Realty Trust Corp SBY for $21.50 per share.