A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Down On Stimulus Uncertainty

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade amid uncertainty over the COVID-19 relief bill. A member of a United States Food and Drug Administration committee on vaccines said that the agency could issue an emergency authorization for Pfizer Inc’s PFE COVID-19 vaccine as early as Friday. Investors are awaiting earnings from AutoZone, Inc. AZO, G-III Apparel Group, Ltd. GIII and Thor Industries, Inc. THO.

The NFIB small business optimism index for November is scheduled for release at 6:00 a.m. ET, while data on nonfarm productivity and unit labor costs for the third quarter will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 76 points to 29,981.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded fell 12.50 points to 3,678.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 4 points to 12,592.00.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 14,954,330 with around 283,740 deaths. India reported a total of at least 9,703,770 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 6,623,910 cases.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.4% to trade at $48.58 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 0.4% to trade at $45.56 a barrel. The API’s report on crude oil stocks will be released later during the day.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mixed today. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.2% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 0.1%. The French CAC 40 Index dropped 0.1%, while German DAX 30 gained 0.1% and London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.2%. French payroll employment in the private sector rose 1.6% in the third quarter versus a preliminary estimate of 1.8% increase.

Asian markets traded mixed today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.3%, China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.19%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.76% and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.5%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 traded higher by 0.2%. Australian house price index increased 0.8% during the three months to September, versus a 1.8% decline in the prior period. Japan's economy expanded by an annualised 22.9% during the July to September period, while current account surplus increased to JPY 2145 billion in October.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at KeyBanc upgraded ON Semiconductor Corp ON from Sector Weight to Overweight and announced a $37 price target.

ON Semiconductor shares rose 4% to $31.79 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Toll Brothers Inc TOL reported upbeat results for its fourth quarter on Monday. The company said it expects FY21 deliveries between 9,600 and 10,200 homes with an average price between $790,000 and $810,000.
• Casey's General Stores Inc CASY reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter and raised its quarterly dividend from $0.32 to $0.34 per share.
• Pfizer told the outgoing Donald Trump administration that it cannot supply a considerable amount of additional doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to the United States until late June because other countries have hastened to secure the supply, the Washington Post reported Monday.
• MicroStrategy Inc MSTR announced plans to offer $400 million in convertible senior notes and plans to invest all the raised capital in Bitcoin.