A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Edge Lower Ahead Of Earnings

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded slightly lower in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings reports from Verizon Communications Inc. VZ, Lockheed Martin Corporation LMT, Pfizer Inc. PFE,. 3M Company MMM and Apple Inc. AAPL.

The Federal Open Market Committee will begin its two-day policy meeting today. A report on U.S. international trade in goods for December and wholesale inventories for December will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller home price index for November will be released at 9:00 a.m. ET, while the Conference Board consumer confidence index for January is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 14 points to 24,459, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 2 points to 2,640. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 11.25 points to 6,690.50.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 1.6 percent to trade at $60.67 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 1.7 percent to trade at $52.79 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.76 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index dropping 0.44 percent and German DAX 30 index dropped 0.27 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.39 percent, while French CAC 40 Index fell 0.45 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.6 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.03 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.18 percent and India’s BSE Sensex fell 1.02 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Atlantic Equities upgraded American Express Company AXP from Neutral to Overweight.

American Express shares rose 0.4 percent to $100.80 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Danaher Corporation DHR reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.
• Harris Corporation HRS reported upbeat results for its second quarter and raised its FY19 earnings forecast.
• Cancer Genetics Inc CGIX priced its 15.21 million share public offering of common stock at $0.23 per share.
• Sanmina Corp SANM reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter and issued strong second-quarter guidance. Sanmina also reported that CFO David Anderson will retire and the company has begun search for a permanent replacement.