A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Down Ahead Of Economic Data

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. Data on initial jobless claims for the latest week will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the flash Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index for August is schedule for release at 9:45 a.m. ET. The index of leading economic indicators for July will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Kansas City Fed manufacturing index for August will be released at 11:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 50 points to 26,176 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 6.2 points to 2,923.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 26.5 points to 7,723.75.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.8% to trade at $60.77 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.7% to trade at $56.07 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.4%, STOXX Europe 600 Index falling 0.3% and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.3%. The UK’s FTSE index was trading lower by 0.5%, while French CAC 40 Index fell 0.5%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.05%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.84%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.11% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 1.59%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at RBC Capital upgraded Jumia Technologies AG – ADR (NYSE: JMIA) from Sector Perform to Outperform and lowered the price target from $40 to $30.

Jumia Technologies shares rose 9.4% to $13.42 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Avinger Inc (NASDAQ: AVGR) reported a common stock offering with no size disclosed.
• Retrophin, Inc. (NASDAQ: RTRX) disclosed that its Phase 3 FORT study of fosmetpantotnate in patients with PKAN did not meet its primary or secondary endpoints.
• Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE: JWN) reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its second quarter on Wednesday.
• Splunk Inc (NASDAQ: SPLK) reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter and issued strong third-quarter sales guidance. The company also announced the acquisition of the SaaS company SignalFix for $1.05 billion.