A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Signal Lower Start On Wall Street

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. Data on housing starts and permits for November will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while data on industrial production for November will be released at 9:15 a.m. ET. The Labor Department's JOLTS report for October is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan is set to speak at 8:00 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams will speak at 12:30 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren is set to speak at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 69 points to 28,194 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded fell 4.9 points to 3,193.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 6.75 points to 8,599.25.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.3% to trade at $65.53 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.1% to trade at $60.27 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.7%, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.8% and German DAX 30 index dropping 1%. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.1%, while French CAC 40 Index fell 0.6%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.47%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 1.22%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.27% and India’s BSE Sensex rose 1.01%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at BMO Capital downgraded Alcoa Corp (NYSE: AA) from Outperform to Market Perform and lowered the price target from $25 to $23.

Alcoa shares rose 1.4% to close at $20.98 on Monday.

Breaking News

• Navistar International Corp (NYSE: NAV) reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter, while sales missed estimates. The company also issued weak sales forecast for FY20.
• Tallgrass Energy LP (NYSE: TGE) agreed to be acquired by Blackstone Infrastructure Partners for $22.45 per share.
• Heico Corp (NYSE: HEI) reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings. The company also increased its semi-annual cash dividend from 7 to 8 cents per share.
• Aptose Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ: APTO) disclosed a proposed public offering of common shares. The company will offer $50 million in shares at $4 each.