A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Drop After Government Shutdown

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade, as investors are awaiting developments on the partial government shutdown. The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for December is schedule for release at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 42 points to 26,004.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 1.75 points to 2,809.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index slipped 1 point to 6,844.75.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.06 percent to trade at $68.57 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures gained 0.05 percent to trade at $63.40 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index gaining 0.48 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index rising 0.01 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.01 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.07 percent, while French CAC 40 Index fell 0.03 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.03 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.43 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.39 percent and India’s BSE Sensex climbed 0.81 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at RBC Capital downgraded Adient PLC ADNT from Outperform to Sector Perform.

Adient shares fell 2.47 percent to $70.16 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Juno Therapeutics Inc JUNO agreed to be acquired for $87 per share in cash by Celgene Corporation CELG.



• Sanofi SA (ADR) SNY announced plans to acquire Bioverativ Inc BIVV for $11.6 billion, or $105 per share in cash.



• Sanmina Corp SANM lowered its forecast for the first quarter and also issued a weak outlook for the second quarter.



• Avacta Group and OncoSec Medical Inc ONCS disclosed a research collaboration to combine Avacta's Affimer protein platform with OncoSec's gene delivery technology ImmunoPulse.