A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Tumble; Fed Slashes Interest Rates To Zero

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade after the Federal Reserve slashed the interest rates to zero in an emergency move Sunday afternoon. The Empire State's manufacturing index for March is scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Treasury International Capital report for January will be released at 4:00 p.m. ET.

South Korea confirmed a total of over 8,200 coronavirus cases, while Italy reported a total of at least 24,000 confirmed cases and 1,800 deaths. Total cases in the US exceeded 3,400 with around 65 deaths. Mainland China reported 16 additional confirmed cases with 14 new deaths.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 1041 points to 21,798 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded fell 128.4 points to 2,555.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 359.75 points to 7,541.00.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 7.3% to trade at $31.41 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 5.1% to trade at $30.11 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 8.2%, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 7.8% and German DAX 30 index dropping 7.3%. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 7.2%, while French CAC 40 Index fell 8.4%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 2.46%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 4.03%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 3.4% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 7%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at BMO Capital upgraded Broadcom Inc. AVGO from Market Perform to Outperform and announced a $330 price target.

Broadcom shares rose 7.1% to close at $234.22 on Friday.

Breaking News

• Nike Inc NKE announced plans to close its retail stores across the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand amid the coronavirus outbreak. The closures will last through March 27.
• Walmart Inc. WMT shortened the operating hours of all its stores across the US starting Sunday.
• Abercrombie & Fitch Co. ANF reported that it is withdrawing its earlier issued guidance for Q1 and FY 2020 following the spread of coronavirus.
• The clinical trial of the novel coronavirus vaccine developed by <b>Moderna Inc.</b> MRNA will start Monday, according to a government official.