A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Mixed Ahead Of Fed Decision

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mixed in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from several companies. Data on motor vehicle sales for July will be released today. The ADP national employment report for July will be released at 8:15 a.m. ET, while the PMI manufacturing index for July is schedule for release at 9:45 a.m. ET. Data on construction spending for June and the ISM manufacturing composite index for July will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Federal Open Market Committee will announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 29 points to 25,366, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded fell 0.75 points to 2,816.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index climbed 17.25 points to 7,262.00.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.96 percent to trade at $74.25 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 1.11 percent to trade at $68.00 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.33 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index dropping 0.23 percent and German DAX 30 index falling 0.05 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 1.18 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.06 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.86 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.85 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index dropped 1.80 percent and India’s BSE Sensex slipped 0.23 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Jefferies upgraded Dropbox, Inc. DBX from Hold to Buy.

Dropbox shares rose 4.03 percent to $27.85 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• United Therapeutics Corporation UTHR reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter.
• Gartner, Inc. IT reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its second quarter.
• Humana Inc. HUM reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its second quarter and raised its FY18 earnings outlook.
• Apple Inc. AAPL reported stronger-than-expected results for its third quarter. The company issued strong fourth-quarter sales guidance and sees gross margins of 38 percent-38.5 percent.