A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Edge Lower Following Weekend of Violent Protests; Manufacturing Data In Focus

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded slightly lower in early pre-market trade, after posting strong gains for the month of May. Investors also assessed violent protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The manufacturing PMI for May is scheduled for release at 9:45 a.m. ET. The ISM manufacturing index for May and data on construction spending for April will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world. Total coronavirus cases in the U.S. exceeded 1,790,190 with around 104,380 deaths. Russia reported a total of at least 405,840 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 514,840 cases.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 31 points to 25,347 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded fell 6 points to 3,036.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 38 points to 9,522.25.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.7% to trade at $37.56 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 1% to trade at $35.15 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 1.5% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.6%. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.9%, while French CAC 40 Index rose 1%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.84%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 3.36%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 2.21% and India’s BSE Sensex rose 2.8%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at ScotiaBank downgraded Occidental Petroleum Corporation OXY from Sector Outperform to Sector Perform and lowered the price target from $25 to $16.

Occidental Petroleum shares rose 1.2% to $13.10 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Target Corporation TGT, late Saturday, announced plans to shutter 175 stores and reduce hours at a few others until further notice following the protests organized in the wake of George Floyd's death.
• Pfizer Inc. PFE issued a disappointing update concerning its Phase 3 early breast cancer Palbociclib Collaborative Adjuvant Study trial results. The Austrian Breast and Colorectal Cancer study group and the Alliance Foundation Trials, LLC, reported that following an analysis, the independent data monitoring committee of the PALLAS study determined the trial is unlikely to show significant improvement in the primary endpoint of invasive disease-free survival.
• Walmart Inc. WMT closed some of its stores in Minneapolis and Atlanta on Friday, after a few of them became a target of looting. The retailer on Sunday said it was further closing several hundred stores across the country, CNBC reported.
• Ted Baker PLC reported a wider pretax loss for fiscal 2020 following rise in costs. The company posted an annual pretax loss of 79.9 million pounds ($98.6 million), versus a year-ago loss of GBP30.7 million. Its revenue slipped 1.4% to GBP630.5 million.