A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Decline; All Eyes On Jobs Report

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. Data on nonfarm payrolls and unemployment rate for September is schedule for release at 8:30 a.m. ET, while consumer credit dats for August will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET. Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer is set speak in Washington DC at 10:30 a.m. ET, while Cleveland Federal Reserve President Loretta Mester will speak in New York at 12:45 p.m. ET. Kansas City Fed's Esther George is set to speak in Washington DC at 3:00 p.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Board Governor Lael Brainard will speak in Washington DC at 4:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 23 points to 18,176.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures slipped 4.25 points to 2,152.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 9 points to 4,863.00.

Oil prices traded mixed as Brent crude futures gained 0.15 percent to trade at $52.59 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures also rose 0.38 percent to trade at $50.63 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the recent week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.94 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.80 percent and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.58 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.84 percent, while French CAC 40 Index fell 0.31 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.23 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.42 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.21 percent and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.16 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Deutsche Bank upgraded Gap Inc GPS from Sell to Hold and raised the price target from $18.00 to $24.00.

Gap shares rose 6.67 percent to $24.30 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Ruby Tuesday, Inc. RT posted a wider-than-expected loss for its first quarter on Thursday. To read the full news, click here.



• Gap Inc. GPS reported a 3 percent decline in its September same-store sales. Its total sales for the month fell 2 percent.



• Helen of Troy Limited HELE reported stronger-than-expected results for its second quarter on Thursday.



• The British pound suffered its most drastic sell-off since the Brexit vote Thursday evening and fell more than 6 percent in just one minute. The British pound nosedived to as low as $1.1841 from $1.26 around the time Asian markets opened for trading. To read the full news, click here.