A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Fall Ahead Of Consumer Price Index

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. The Consumer Price Index for December is schedule for release at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 38 points to 23,915, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded fell 5 points to 2,589.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 18 points to 6,607.25.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.34 percent to trade at $61.89 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures gained 0.57 percent to trade at $52.89 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 mostly lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.42 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.08 percent and German DAX 30 index dropped 0.21 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.10 percent, while French CAC 40 Index fell 0.31 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.97 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.55 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.74 percent and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.27 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Goldman Sachs downgraded Yum! Brands, Inc. YUM from Neutral to Sell and lowered the price target from $83 to $76.

Yum Brands shares fell 2.22 percent to $89.75 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Infosys Ltd INFY reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter, while sales exceeded estimates. The company also raised its revenue growth forecast foe the full year.
• SYNNEX Corporation SNX reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter and issued strong outlook for the first quarter.
• Lennar Corporation LEN reported up to $1 billion stock repurchase program. The company’s board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.04 per share for both Class A and Class B common stock.
• PVH Corp PVH shares surged over 5 percent in pre-market trading after outlining strategic changes to the brand and organization. The company also raised fourth-quarter adjusted EPS guidance by 15 cents to $1.75. The company sees FY18 adjusted earnings of at least $9.50 against a $9.35 estimate.