A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Tumble Ahead Of Earnings, GDP Data

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from The Coca-Cola Company KO and Verizon Communications Inc. VZ. Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN and Visa Inc. V will release earnings after the closing bell. Gross Domestic Product report for the fourth quarter and data on initial jobless claims for the latest week will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 227 points to 28,483 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded fell 26 points to 3,246.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 70.5 points to 9,028.00.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 2.6% to trade at $57.37 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 2.3% to trade at $52.09 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index dropping 0.9%, STOXX Europe 600 Index falling 0.8% and German DAX 30 index dropping 1.2%. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.9%, while French CAC 40 Index fell 1.4%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.72%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 2.62%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 2.75% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.69%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Pivotal Research downgraded Facebook FB from Buy to Hold and lowered the price target from $245 to $215.

Facebook shares fell 7.3% to $206.92 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• AmerisourceBergen Corporation ABC reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings and raised FY20 EPS outlook.
• Eli Lilly and Company LLY reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter.
• Facebook, Inc. FB reported upbeat earnings and revenue for its fourth quarter. The company said it had 1.66 billion daily active users during the quarter, up 9% year over year. Monthly active users were 2.5 billion, up 8% year over year.
• Tesla Inc TSLA reported stronger-than-expected Q4 results. The company also reported Q4 Model 3 deliveries were up 46% year-over-year.