A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Down; Dow Futures Fall Over 200 Points

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for February is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 243 points to 24,377.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 19.50 points to 2,658.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 60.75 points to 6,694.25.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.06 percent to trade at $63.79 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures dropped 0.13 percent to trade at $60.91 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 1.6 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 1.52 percent and German DAX 30 index dropping 2.15 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 1 percent, while French CAC 40 Index fell 1.78 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 2.50 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 1.48 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.59 percent and India’s BSE Sensex slipped 0.40 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Splunk Inc SPLK from Hold to Buy.

Splunk shares rose 5.72 percent to $99.00 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Splunk Inc SPLK reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter and issued a strong sales forecast.



• Gap Inc GPS reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter and issued a strong FY18 forecast.



• JD.Com Inc(ADR) JD reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.



• VMware, Inc. VMW posted upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter and issued a strong outlook for the full year.