A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Edge Lower; All Eyes On Fed Decision

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded slightly lower in early pre-market trade. Data on housing starts and permits for August will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Federal Open Market Committee will announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET, while the Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 26 points to 27,084 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 3.65 points to 3,004.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 10.5 points to 7,904.00.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.4% to trade at $64.32 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 0.8% to trade at $58.89 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.3%, STOXX Europe 600 Index rising 0.1% and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.1%. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.1%, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.2%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.18%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.13%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.25% and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.23%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at DZ Bank downgraded AT&T Inc. AT&T T from Buy to Hold and announced $38 price target.

AT&T shares fell 0.4% to $37.02 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Hexindai Inc. HX reported Q1 adjusted loss of $0.14 per share on sales of $4.9 million.
• Translate Bio, Inc. TBIO priced its 9 million share offering of public offering of common stock at $10 per share.
• FedEx Corporation FDX reported weaker-than-expected results for its second quarter and cut FY20 sales guidance.
• Adobe Inc ADBE reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter, but issued weak fourth-quarter guidance.