A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Mixed Ahead Of Earnings, Fed Meeting

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mixed in early pre-market trade. The Federal Open Market Committee will begin its two-day policy meeting today. The employment cost index for the first quarter is schedule for release at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller home price index for February will be released at 9:00 a.m. ET. The Chicago PMI for April is schedule for release at 9:45 a.m. ET. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index for April and the pending home sales index for March will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 17 points to 26,565, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 0.15 point to 2,942.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 7.25 points to 7,806.50.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 1.3 percent to trade at $72.96 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures gained 1.4 percent to trade at $64.38 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.3 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.2 percent and German DAX 30 index gained 0.1 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.2 percent, while French CAC 40 Index fell 0.2 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.22 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 0.65 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.52 percent and India’s BSE Sensex slipped 0.09 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Loop Capital upgraded Dollar General Corporation DG from Hold to Buy and raised the price target from $105 to $152.

Dollar General shares fell 0.13 percent to close at $125.10 on Monday.

Breaking News

• Merck & Co., Inc. MRK reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter and raised its full-year outlook.
• General Electric Company GE announced upbeat results for its first quarter.
• Eli Lilly and Company LLY reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter, while sales missed views.
• Alphabet Inc. GOOG reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter, while sales missed estimates.