Pre-open movers
U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade after the Dow Jones dipped more than 1,150 points in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ), Kohl's Corporation (NYSE:KSS) and Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT).
Data on initial jobless claims for the latest week and Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index for May will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on existing home sales for April and index of leading economic indicators for April will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari is set to speak at 4:00 p.m. ET.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 325 points to 31,115.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 45.75 points to 3,877.00. Futures for the Nasdaq index fell 167.75 points to 11,767.75.
Oil prices traded slightly higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.6% to trade at $109.75 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.1% to trade at $109.69 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.
The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 84,692,700 with around 1,028,010 deaths. India reported a total of at least 43,129,560 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 30,741,810 cases.
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A Peek Into Global Markets
European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 1.6%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 1.7% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 1.1%. The French CAC 40 Index fell 1.8%, while German DAX dropped 1.9%. The Eurozone current account surplus shrank to EUR 8.7 billion in March from EUR 39.7 billion in the year-ago month.
Asian markets traded mostly lower today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.89%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 2.64% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.36%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.7% and India’s S&P BSE Sensex dipped 2.4%. Australia's unemployment rate came in unchanged at 3.9% in April. Private-sector machinery orders in Japan increased 7.1% from a month ago in March. Japan posted a trade deficit of JPY 839.2 billion in April, with imports to the country surging 28.2% year-over-year to a new record high of JPY 8,915.4 billion.
Broker Recommendation
Stifel downgraded Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) from Buy to Hold and lowered the price target from $270 to $185.
Target shares fell 1.9% to $158.50 in pre-market trading.
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Breaking News
- Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) reported upbeat earnings for its third quarter, while sales missed estimates. The company also issued weak Q4 and FY22 earnings guidance.
- Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) expanded access to its supercharger network to all electric cars in select locations in the United Kingdom and Europe, two months after making the service available in the Netherlands.
- Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) reported upbeat earnings for its first quarter, but lowered its FY22 earnings guidance.
- South Korea has revived the ‘Yeouido Grim Reaper’ financial crimes task force to investigate the collapse of Terra’s (CRYPTO: LUNA) stablecoin TerraUSD (CRYPTO: UST).
