Pre-open movers
U.S. stock futures traded slightly higher in early pre-market trade after closing lower on Tuesday. The Dow Jones dropped around 173 points, while the Nasdaq Composite declined around 86 points in the previous session. Data released Tuesday showed the ISM services index climbed to 56.9 in August from previous reading of 56.7.
Investors are awaiting earnings results from Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY), GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) and G-III Apparel Group, Ltd. (NASDAQ:GIII).
International trade report for July will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Analysts expect a deficit of $70.5 billion for total goods and services trade in July compared with a $79.6 billion deficit in the previous month. The Federal Reserve will release its latest Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET.
Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin is set to speak at 9:00 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester will speak at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard is set to speak at 11:55 a.m. ET, while Michael S. Barr, Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve for Supervision, will speak at 2:00 p.m. ET.
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Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 6 points to 31,172.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 3.25 points to 3,913.75. Futures for the Nasdaq index rose 27 points to 12,046.00.
Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.5% to trade at $93.30 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.5% to trade at $87.34 a barrel.
The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 96,716,570 with around 1,073,290 deaths. India reported a total of at least 44,472,240 confirmed cases, while France confirmed over 34,623,090 cases.
A Peek Into Global Markets
European markets were mostly lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 0.6%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.9% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.3%. The French CAC 40 Index fell 0.5%, while German DAX declined 0.5%.
The Eurozone economy grew 0.8% on quarter during the second quarter, versus a 0.6% growth in the second estimate, while number of employed persons increased by 0.4% on the quarter to 164.1 million in the quarter. Retail sales in Italy climbed 1.3% from a month ago in July following a 1.1% drop a month ago. Industrial production in Germany declined 0.3% month-over-month during July, while Halifax house price index in the UK increased 11.5% year-over-year in August.
Asian markets traded mostly lower today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.71%, China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.09%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.83%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.4%, while India’s S&P BSE SENSEX fell 0.3%.
The index of coincident economic indicators in Japan rose to 100.6 in July versus a revised reading of 99.2 in the earlier month, while index of leading economic indicators fell to 99.6 in July from 100.3 in June. Chinese trade surplus narrowed to a three-month low level of $79.39 billion in August from $59.13 billion in the year-ago month. The Australian economy grew 0.9% on quarter in Q1, while Australian Industry Group Australian Performance of Services Index increased 1.6 points to 53.3 points during August.
Broker Recommendation
BTIG downgraded Signify Health, Inc. (NYSE:SGFY) from Buy to Neutral.
Signify Health shares fell 0.3% to $29.00 in pre-market trading.
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Breaking News
- Newell Brands Inc. (NASDAQ:NWL) lowered its guidance for the current quarter and FY22. The company said it now sees FY22 earnings of $1.56 to $1.70 per share and net sales of $9.37 billion to $9.58 billion.
- BP (NYSE:BP) agreed to sell its upstream business in Algeria to Eni.
- Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), the world’s oldest cryptocurrency, tumbled below the $19,000 level on Wednesday.
- Coupa Software Incorporated (NASDAQ:COUP) posted better-than-expected results for its second quarter and issued strong forecast for FY23. The company also announced a $100 million buyback program.
