A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Fall, Jobs Report In Focus

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. Data on nonfarm payrolls for February and housing starts for January will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly is set to speak in Washington, DC at 10:00 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will speak in Stanford, CA at 10:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 111 points to 25,392.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 11.5 points to 2,743.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 37.5 points to 6,990.00.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 1.9 percent to trade at $65.06 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 1.8 percent to trade at $55.65 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is schedule for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 1 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index dropping 0.8 percent and German DAX 30 index declined 0.5 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.9 percent, while French CAC 40 Index slipped 0.5 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 2.01 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 1.91 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index dipped 4.4 percent and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.15 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Imperial Capital downgraded Alaska Air Group, Inc. ALK from Outperform to In-Line and lowered the price target from $90 to $61.

Alaska Air shares rose 0.1 percent to $56.00 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

  • Big Lots, Inc. BIG reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.
  • Marvell Technology Group Ltd. MRVL reported in-line earnings for its fourth quarter, while sales exceeded estimates. The company issued weak first-quarter guidance.
  • Navistar International Corp NAV reported downbeat Q4 earnings, while sales exceeded views.
  • Costco Wholesale Corporation COST reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its fiscal second quarter.
Posted In: NewsEurozoneFuturesGlobalPre-Market OutlookMarketsA Peek Into The MarketsUS Stock Futures
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