A Peek Into The Markets: Boeing Leads Dow Futures Lower

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mostly lower in early pre-market trade.

Data on retail sales for January will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while data on business inventories for December will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is set to speak in Washington, DC at 7:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 163 points to 25,365.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 3.25 points to 2,755.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 17 points to 7,072.50.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.8 percent to trade at $66.28 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.9 percent to trade at $56.55 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.1 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index climbing 0.4 percent and German DAX 30 index gained 0.2 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.8 percent, while French CAC 40 Index gained 0.2 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.47 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.97 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index jumped 1.92 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 1.04 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Bank of America upgraded Apple Inc. AAPL from Neutral to Buy.

Apple shares rose 1.7 percent to $175.85 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc. HRC announced plans to acquire Voalte for $180 million in cash.
• Boeing Co BA shares declined over 8 percent in pre-market trading following crash of Ethiopian Airways 737 Max and grounding of plane by China and Indonesia regulators.
• NVIDIA Corporation NVDA announced plans to acquire Mellanox Technologies, Ltd. MLNX for $125 per share in cash.
• Cellect Biotechnology Ltd. APOP reported positive results from Cell2in collaboration showing significant improvement in expansion rate and function of stem cells.