A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Down; Bank of America Profit Tops Estimates

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. Data on retail sales for September will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on business inventories for August and the housing market index for October will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans is set to speak in Peoria, Illinois at 9:00 a.m. ET, while Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan will speak in Austin, Texas at 1:00 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Member of the Board of Governors Lael Brainard is set to speak in Washington, DC at 3:00 p.m. ET. The Federal Open Market Committee will release its Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 78 points to 26,924 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded fell 9.2 points to 2,988.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 22.5 points to 7,937.25.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.2% to trade at $58.62 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 0.1% to trade at $52.79 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.2%, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.1% and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.2%. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.1%, while French CAC 40 Index fell 0.1%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.2%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.61%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.41% and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.24%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Atlantic Equities upgraded Johnson & Johnson JNJ from Underweight to Neutral.

Johnson & Johnson shares rose 1.1% to $134.24 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Bank of America Corporation BAC reported better-than-expected Q3 results.
• The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. PNC reported stronger-than-expected results for its third quarter.
• The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation BK reported upbeat earnings for its third quarter.
• Comerica Incorporated CMA reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its third quarter.