A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Tumble; Jobs Report In Focus

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. Data on nonfarm payrolls and unemployment rate for January will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while data on wholesale inventories for December will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 151 points to 29,177 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded fell 15.7 points to 3,329.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 54 points to 9,401.50.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.7% to trade at $54.54 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 0.8% to trade at $50.56 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is scheduled for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.5%, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.5% and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.7%. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.7%, while French CAC 40 Index fell 0.4%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.19%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.33%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.33% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.4%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Cowen & Co. downgraded Becton, Dickinson and Company BDX from Outperform to Market Perform and lowered the price target from $306 to $275.

Becton, Dickinson shares rose 0.2% to $252.84 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Hanesbrands Inc. HBI posted in-line results for the fourth quarter, but issued weak outlook for the current quarter.
• Activision Blizzard, Inc. ATVI reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.
• Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. TTWO reported downbeat adjusted revenue for its third quarter. Its earnings declined to $1.43 per share from $1.57 per share, a year ago.
• Skechers USA Inc SKX reported in-line earnings for its fourth quarter, while sales exceeded estimates.