A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Down; Dow Futures Fall Over 300 Points

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. Data on initial jobless claims for the latest week will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index for October is schedule for release at 9:00 a.m. ET. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index for December will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 333 points to 22,565.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded fell 36 points to 2,435.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 95.25 points to 6,190.00.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 1.52 percent to trade at $53.64 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures dropped 1.38 percent to trade at $45.58 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.72 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.97 percent and German DAX 30 index dropped 1.69 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.95 percent, while French CAC 40 Index fell 0.07 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 3.88 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.67 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.61 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.44 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at JP Morgan upgraded Ashland Global Holdings Inc ASH from Neutral to Overweight.

Ashland shares rose 0.02 percent to $68.23 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Boston Scientific Corporation BSX reported a deal to buy remaining stake in Millipede.
• Kforce Inc. KFRC said it expects to exceed Q4 earnings guidance of $0.56 to $0.58 per share and sales guidance of $249 million to $354 million.
• China Automotive Systems, Inc. CAAS announced a joint venture with Hyoseong Electric Co. Ltd. to produce electric motors.
• TRACON Pharmaceuticals TCON disclosed 'positive' top-line results from Phase 1 study of TRC105 and Opdivo in non-small cell lung cancer.