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 motor vehicle sales for November will be released today. The manufacturing PMI for November is schedule for release at 9:45 a.m. ET. The ISM manufacturing index for November and data on construction spending for October will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard is set to speak in Little Rock, Arkansas at 9:05 a.m. ET, while Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan will speak in McAllen, Texas at 9:30 a.m. ET. Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker is set to speak in Philadelphia at 10:15 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 93 points to 24,181.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures declined 14.25 points to 2,633.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 53 points to 6,316.00.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.78 percent to trade at $63.12 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures gained 0.61 percent to trade at $57.75 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the recent 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 0.70 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.81 percent and German DAX 30 index dropping 1.39 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.47 percent, while French CAC 40 Index fell 1.17 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.41 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.35 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.01 percent and India’s BSE Sensex declined 0.95 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at KeyBanc upgraded Tiffany & Co. TIF from Sector Weight to Overweight.

Tiffany shares rose 2.13 percent to close at $94.50 on Thursday.

Breaking news

• Big Lots, Inc. BIG reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter, and raised its FY17 guidance.



• Ulta Beauty, Inc. ULTA reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter. The company also saw comps up a whopping 10.3 percent in the quarter but issued weak fourth quarter earnings guidance.



• Zumiez Inc. ZUMZ reported in-line earnings for its third quarter on Thursday.



• Five Below Inc FIVE posted upbeat earnings for its third quarter and raised its FY17 guidance.