A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Signal Lower Start On Wall Street

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. The flash Composite Purchasing Managers' Index for February is scheduled for release at 9:45 a.m. ET, while data on existing home sales for January will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan is set to speak at 9:35 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard will speak at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic is set to speak at 10:00 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida will speak at 1:30 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester is set to speak at 1:30 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 108 points to 29,063 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded fell 14.2 points to 3,355.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 51 points to 9,573.25.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 1.7% to trade at $58.29 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 1.6% to trade at $53.02 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the recent week is scheduled for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.1%, STOXX Europe 600 Index dropping 0.3% and German DAX 30 index declining 0.2%. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.5%, while French CAC 40 Index slipped 0.5%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.39%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.09%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.31% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.37%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Domino's Pizza, Inc. DPZ from Buy to Hold and raised the price target from $325 to $365.

Domino's shares rose 25.6% to close at $373.16 on Thursday.

Breaking News

• Dropbox Inc DBX reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter and disclosed a $600 million buyback program.
• Texas Roadhouse Inc TXRH reported better-than-expected Q4 results and raised its dividend.
• Fitbit, Inc. FIT reported weaker-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.
• First Solar, Inc. FSLR reported a surprise loss for its fourth quarter. The company’s quarterly sales also missed expectations.