A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Plunge Ahead Of Jobless Claims; Crude Oil Down Over 3% - Applie

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade after the Dow Jones tumbled over 1% in the previous session following the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve meeting. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Macy's Inc (NYSE:M), Estee Lauder Companies Inc (NYSE:EL), Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT), Kohl's Corporation (NYSE:KSS) and Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST).

Data on initial jobless claims for the latest week will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Analysts expect jobless claims declining to 360,000 in the August 14 week from 375,000 in the prior week. The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index for August is scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the index of leading economic indicators for July will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 251 points to 34,636.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 28.75 points to 4,365.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index dropped 73.25 points to 14,776.00.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 37,155,120 with around 624,250 deaths. India reported a total of at least 32,285,850 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 20,457,890 cases.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 3.1% to trade at $66.14 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 3.4% to trade at $63.21 a barrel. US crude oil inventories dropped 3.234 million barrels in the August 13th week, versus a 0.447 million drop in the prior period, the Energy Information Administration said Wednesday. The EIA’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.4% and STOXX Europe 600 Index dipped 2%. The French CAC 40 Index tumbled 2.8%, London’s FTSE 100 dipped 2.2% while German DAX 30 dropped 1.9%. The Eurozone’s current account surplus increased to EUR 24.0 billion in June compared to EUR 18.4 billion in the year-ago month. Spain's trade balance swung to a deficit of EUR 0.98 billion in June versus a year-ago surplus of EUR 1.48 billion.

Asian markets traded lower today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.1%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 2.13%, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.57%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.5% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.3%. Australian jobless rate unexpectedly declined to 4.6% in July compared to 4.9% in June. The Reuters Tankan sentiment index for manufacturers in Japan surged to 33 during August versus 25 a month ago.

Broker Recommendation

Jefferies upgraded Bill.com Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BILL) from Hold to Buy and raised the price target from $155 to $250.

Bill.com shares rose 4.1% to close at $204.92 on Wednesday.

Check out other major ratings here

Breaking News

Robinhood Markets Inc (NASDAQ:HOOD) disclosed its earnings for the first time as a public company. The company’s total net revenues surged 131% to $565 million in the second quarter, while reporting a net loss of $502 million, versus net income of $58 million in the year-ago period. The company reported ARPU of $112, down from $115 year over year.
China’s CATL, a battery supplier to Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Nio Inc (NYSE:NIO), signed an agreement with the local government to build a manufacturing base in Shanghai, cnEVpost reported.
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) reported stronger-than-expected results for its second quarter.
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter, but issued weak profit forecast for the first quarter.