A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Down Ahead Of Retail Sales Data

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. Data on retail sales for September and the Empire State manufacturing index for October will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on business inventories for October will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 84 points to 25,232.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded fell 12 points to 2,757.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index dipped 54 points to 7,119.00.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.86 percent to trade at $81.12 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.56 percent to trade at $71.74 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.16 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index falling 0.21 percent and German DAX 30 index gained 0.29 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.09 percent, while French CAC 40 Index slipped 0.24 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.87 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 1.38 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.49 percent and India’s BSE Sensex climbed 0.38 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Barclays upgraded Activision Blizzard, Inc. ATVI from Equal-Weight to Overweight and raised the price target from $79 to $86.

Activision Blizzard shares rose 1.26 percent to $78.90 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Bank of America Corp BAC reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter.
• Eyepoint Pharmaceuticals Inc EYPT reported that it has received the FDA approval for YUTIQ 0.18mg.
• CPI Aerostructures, Inc. CVU reported a $12 million common stock offering.
• AcelRx Pharmaceuticals Inc ACRX disclosed that the FDA Advisory Committee voted 10-3 in favor of approving the company's DSUVIA for acute pain management.