A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Decline Ahead Of Economic Data

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. The Producer Price Index for October will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while data on industrial production for October will be released at 9:15 a.m. ET. The housing market index for November is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Treasury International Capital report for September will be released at 4:00 p.m. ET. Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker is set to speak in Philadelphia at 5:30 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 51 points to 18,832.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures declined 7.25 points to 2,172.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index dropped 17.25 points to 4,750.50.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures dropped 1 percent to trade at $45.88 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures also fell 1.10 percent to trade at $45.88 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index dropping 0.62 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.18 percent and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.50 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.77 percent, while French CAC 40 Index fell 0.59 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.10 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.19 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.06 percent and India’s BSE Sensex declined 0.02 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at BMO Capital downgraded Nokia Corp (ADR) (NYSE: NOK) from Outperform to Market Perform.

Nokia shares fell 0.72 percent to $4.11 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter and raised its forecast. To read the full news, click here.
• Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW) reported downbeat results for its third quarter on Wednesday.
• In one of the most anticipated IPOs since Facebook Inc (NASDAQ: FB), Snapchat will likely hit the market in 2017 after officially filing IPO papers with the SEC, Wall Street Journal has reported. Submitted before last week's election, Snapchats parent company Snap Inc. filed its IPO confidentially with the SEC, as companies with less than $1 billion in annual revenue can do so under the JOBS act. To read the full news, click here.
• Agilent Technologies Inc (NYSE: A) reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter, but issued a weak guidance for the current quarter.