A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Edge Lower Ahead Of Earnings, Economic Data

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. Data on initial jobless claims for the latest week and the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index for February will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The index of leading economic indicators for January will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin is set to speak at 1:20 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 37 points to 29,300 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded fell 2.7 points to 3,384.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 9.75 points to 9,723.75.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.2% to trade at $59.22 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.6% to trade at $53.61 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, while the EIA’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. will be released at 11:00 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.4%, STOXX Europe 600 Index dropping 0.2% and German DAX 30 index declining 0.1%. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.1%, while French CAC 40 Index slipped 0.1%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.34%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.17%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.84% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.37%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Tivity Health, Inc. TVTY from Overweight to Neutral and lowered the price target from $40 to $17.

Tivity Health shares fell 37.8% to $14.27 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• MEDNAX, Inc. MD reported better-than-expected Q4 results.
• KBR, Inc. KBR reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter, while sales missed views.
• Avis Budget Group Inc. CAR reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter and issued FY20 sales guidance above estimates.
• Constellium SE CSTM reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.