A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Mixed; Congress Clears Stimulus Bill

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mixed in early pre-market trade after the US Senate passed a $2.3 trillion Covid-19 relief legislation, which also included the $900 billion Covid-19 relief package. Investors are awaiting earnings from CarMax, Inc KMX and Cintas Corporation CTAS.

Gross Domestic Product report for the third quarter is scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index, the Richmond Fed's manufacturing index and data on existing home sales will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 39 points to 30,074.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 1.75 points to 3,687.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 41.50 points to 12,725.00.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 18,035,200 with around 319,360 deaths. India reported a total of at least 10,075,110 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 7,263,610 cases.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 1.4% to trade at $50.18 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 1.6% to trade at $47.19 a barrel. The API’s report on crude stocks will be released later during the day.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today despite of new Covid-19 strain resulting in lockdown measures and flight suspensions in various countries. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.1% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 1%. The French CAC 40 Index climbed 1.3%, while German DAX 30 gained 1.3% and London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.4%. Eurozone consumer confidence index rose to minus 13.9 in December. Britain’s GDP increased 16% quarter-over-quarter during the third quarter but shrank 8.6% year-over-year. The country’s current account deficit increased to £15.7 billion in the third quarter.

Asian markets traded mostly lower today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.04%, China’s Shanghai Composite dropped 1.86%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.71% and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.7%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 traded lower by 1.1%. Australia’s retail sales rose surprising by 7% month-over-month in November, while Hong Kong’s consumer price index declined 0.20% month-over-month in November.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at KeyBanc downgraded RealPage Inc RP from Overweight to Sector Weight.

RealPage shares fell 0.1% to $87.25 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Calavo Growers, Inc. CVGW reported weaker-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Monday.
• Colonnade Acquisition Corp CLA is valuing lidar technology startup Ouster Inc at $1.9 billion in a merger deal, Reuters reported. Outster plans to go public through the merger deal that could be announced as soon as Tuesday.
• Heico Corp HEI reported upbeat results for its fourth quarter.
• Clearwater Paper Corp CLW raised its guidance for the fourth quarter. The company said it now expects adjusted EBITDA of $71 million to $76 million, versus prior forecast of $52 million to $62 million.