A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Edge Lower Ahead Of Manufacturing PMI

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. The Markit’s manufacturing PMI for September will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET. Philadelphia's Patrick Harker is set to speak in Philadelphia at 12:00 p.m. ET. Regional Fed presidents - Philadelphia's Patrick Harker, Atlanta's Dennis Lockhart and Cleveland's Loretta Mester - will speak in Philadelphia at 12:20 p.m. ET, while Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan is set to speak in Houston at 12:30 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 13 points to 18,287.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures declined 2.25 points to 2,166.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 5 points to 4,881.25.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures gained 0.92 percent to trade at $48.09 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures also rose 0.17 percent to trade at $46.40 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 1.43 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.66 percent and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.21 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.07 percent, while French CAC 40 Index fell 0.39 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.32 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.31 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.31 percent and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.36 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at RBC Capital downgraded Twitter Inc TWTR from Sector Perform to Underperform.

Twitter shares fell 3.92 percent to $17.90 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Finish Line Inc FINL reported in-line earnings for its second quarter, while sales exceeded expectations.



• AAR Corp. AIR reported upbeat results for its first quarter on Thursday.



• Enphase Energy Inc ENPH disclosed restructuring and cost reduction initiatives, which are expected to result in annualized savings of approximately $20 million. The plan includes an 11 percent reduction of the company’s global workforce and the elimination of some non-core projects, at a cost of $3 million. Management said it has plans for a public offering of common stock, although the size is yet to be publicized.



• Shares of Imperva Inc IMPV surged more than 15 percent in pre-market trading, helped by rumors about International Business Machines Corp. IBM and Cisco Systems, Inc. CSCO might be interested in acquiring the company.