A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Up Ahead Of Economic Reports

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. The Challenger job-cut report for September is schedule for release at 7:30 a.m. ET, while data on initial jobless claims for the latest week will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. US Services Purchasing Managers' Index for September is schedule for release at 9:45 a.m. ET. Data on factory orders for August and the ISM's non-manufacturing index for September will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Board of Governors Vice Chairman for Supervision Randal Quarles will speak in Brussels, Belgium at 8:30 a.m. ET, while Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester is set to speak in Washington, D.C. at 12:10 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Board of Governors Vice Chairman Richard Clarida will speak in New York at 6:35 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 40 points to 26,025 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 5.65 points to 2,886.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index climbed 21.25 points to 7,567.50.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.2% to trade at $57.57 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 0.2% to trade at $52.56 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.3%, STOXX Europe 600 Index dropping 0.1% and German DAX 30 index falling 2.8%. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.5%, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.5%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 2.01%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.26%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.92% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.52%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Wells Fargo downgraded The Charles Schwab Corporation SCHW from Outperform to Market Perform and lowered the price target from $50 to $38.

Charles Schwab shares fell 3.3% to close at $36.51 on Wednesday.

Breaking News

• Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. BBBY reported upbeat earnings for its second quarter, while sales missed views. Bed Bath & Beyond disclosed that it has made a substantial progress toward identifying a new permanent CEO.
• Ares Management Corporation ARES reported a strategic joint venture with Fidante Partners in Australia.
• Tesla Inc TSLA shares dropped over 4% in pre-market trading after the electric car maker came up short on expectations for vehicle deliveries in the third quarter. The company said it delivered a record 97,000 vehicles in the quarter. But that fell short of analysts' expectations of 99,000.
• PepsiCo, Inc. PEP reported upbeat earnings for its third quarter.