A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Down Ahead Of Fed Meeting

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. The Federal Open Market Committee will begin its two-day policy meeting today. Data on industrial production for August will be released at 9:15 a.m. ET, while the housing market index for September is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 42 points to 27,038 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 3.25 points to 2,998.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 13 points to 7,866.50.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 1.7% to trade at $67.87 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 1.7% to trade at $61.85 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.5%, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.1% and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.1%. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.1%, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.1%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.06%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.23%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index slipped 1.74% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 1.73%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at JP Morgan upgraded Splunk Inc. SPLK from Neutral to Overweight and announced a $130 price target.

Splunk shares rose 2.3% to $117.50 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Apogee Enterprises, Inc. APOG reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter.
• KLA Corporation KLAC reported a $1 billion buyback program and raised its quarterly dividend from $0.75 to $0.85 per share.
• Concrete Pumping Holdings Inc BBCP reported downbeat results for its third quarter and issued weak FY19 sales forecast.
• Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp TNXP reported a licensing deal with Columbia University for the development of TXN-1700 for the treatment of gastric and pancreatic cancers.