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A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Drop Ahead Of Earnings, Economic Data

META, C.PM, AA, CI, CMG, V, AMZN

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) and Visa Inc (NYSE: V) will report earnings after the closing bell. The Challenger job-cut report for January is schedule for release at 7:30 a.m. ET, while data on initial jobless claims for the latest week will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on non-farm productivity and unit labor costs for the fourth quarter will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 48 points to 19,768.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 6 points to 2,268.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 16.50 points to 5,132.00.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures gained 0.76 percent to trade at $57.23 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.48 percent to trade at $54.14 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.


A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.54 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index falling 0.07 percent and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.13 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.37 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.08 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.22 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.57 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.31 percent and India’s BSE Sensex climbed 0.30 percent.


Broker Recommendation

Analysts at JP Morgan upgraded Alcoa Corp (NYSE: AA) from Neutral to Overweight.

Alcoa shares rose 2.04 percent to $37.00 in pre-market trading.


Breaking news

  • Facebook Inc (NASDAQ: FB) reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Wednesday.
  • Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM) reported downbeat earnings for its fourth quarter, but revenue exceeded expectations.
  • Reckitt Benckiser Group confirmed to Reuters it's in talks to acquire Mead Johnson Nutrition CO (NYSE: MJN) for $90 per share in cash or approximately $16.7 billion. This confirmed an earlier report from the Wall Street Journal.
  • CIGNA Corporation (NYSE: CI) reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.


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