A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Tumble Ahead Of Economic Data

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. Data on initial jobless claims for the latest week, the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index for August, retail sales for July, the Empire State manufacturing index for August and nonfarm productivity for the second quarter will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on industrial production for July will be released at 9:15 a.m. ET. Data on business inventories for June and the housing market index for August will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 187 points to 25,268 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 19.2 points to 2,821.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 87 points to 7,401.75.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 2.3% to trade at $58.12 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 1.8% to trade at $54.23 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 1.1%, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 1.1% and German DAX 30 index dropping 1.6%. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 1.7%, while French CAC 40 Index fell 1.3%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.21%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.76%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.25% and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.96%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Deutsche Bank downgraded Autodesk, Inc. ADSK from Buy to Hold and lowered the price target from $180 to $165.

Autodesk shares fell 1.7% to $144.45 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• NetApp Inc. NTAP reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter and issued strong second-quarter earnings guidance.
• Cisco Systems, Inc. CSCO reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter, but issued weak first-quarter earnings guidance.
• Agilent Technologies Inc A reported better-than-expected Q3 results and issued FY19 EPS above analyst estimates.
• CACI International Inc CACI reported weaker-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Wednesday.