A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Flat; All Eyes On Fed Decision

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mostly flat in early pre-market trade. The Federal Open Market Committee will announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET, while the Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 4 points to 26,508, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 0.95 points to 2,925.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index slipped 0.25 points to 7,673.25.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.8 percent to trade at $61.65 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 0.1 percent to trade at $53.84 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.4 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index falling 0.1 percent and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.1 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.2 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.1 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.72 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 2.56 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.96 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.17 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Raymond James downgraded SunPower Corporation SPWR from Outperform to Market Perform.

SunPower shares fell 3.8 percent to $9.76 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Winnebago Industries, Inc. WGO reported upbeat earnings for its third quarter, while sales missed views.
• Adobe Inc ADBE reported better-than-expected earnings for its second quarter, but issued weak third-quarter guidance.
• Jabil Inc JBL reported in-line earnings for its third quarter, while sales exceeded estimates. The company also issued in-line Q4 guidance.
• Genocea Biosciences Inc GNCA reported a 10 million shares common stock offering.