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A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Down Ahead Of GDP Report

NKE, NVS, SKYW | December 21, 2018

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. Data on durable goods orders for November and Gross Domestic Product report for the third quarter will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on consumer spending and personal income for November and the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Kansas City Fed manufacturing index for December will be released at 11:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 66 points to 22,931, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded fell 9.2 points to 2,476.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 28 points to 6,297.50.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 1.82 percent to trade at $53.36 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures dropped 0.72 percent to trade at $45.55 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the recent week is schedule for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.94 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.47 percent and German DAX 30 index dropped 0.25 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.27 percent, while French CAC 40 Index dipped 0.58 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.11 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.51 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.79 percent and India’s BSE Sensex fell 1.89 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Imperial Capital upgraded SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ: SKYW) from In-Line to Outperform and raised the price target from $58 to $63.

SkyWest shares climbed 0.55 percent to close at $43.63 on Thursday.

Breaking News

Cintas Corp. (NASDAQ: CTAS) reported upbeat results for its second quarter and raised its outlook for the year.
Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) disclosed that it has received the EC approval for expanded indication for Kisqali.
Nike Inc (NYSE: NKE) reported stronger-than-expected results for its second quarter on Thursday.
Zynga Inc (NASDAQ: ZNGA) reported the purchase of Small Giant Games for $560 million in cash and stock. The company raised fourth quarter GAAP sales guidance from $235 to $243 million. The company also raised fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA guidance from $32 million to $33 million.