A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Signal Lower Start On Wall Street

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. The housing market index for February is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET. Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester is set to speak in Newark, DE at 8:50 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 73 points to 25,815, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 9.25 points to 2,767.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 20 points to 7,043.75.

Oil prices traded mixed as Brent crude futures fell 0.2 percent to trade at $66.34 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures gained 0.9 percent to trade at $56.09 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.53 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index dropping 0.5 percent and German DAX 30 index dropped 0.14 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.6 percent, while French CAC 40 Index slipped 0.4 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.1 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.42 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed 1.27 percent and India’s BSE Sensex dropped 0.19 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at JP Morgan downgraded Weight Watchers International, Inc. WTW from Neutral to Underweight and lowered the price target from $37 to $25.

Weight Watchers shares fell 5.2 percent to $28.70 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Westlake Chemical Corporation WLK reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.
• Advance Auto Parts, Inc. AAP reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter, while sales missed views.
• Walmart Inc WMT reported upbeat results for its fourth quarter.
• HSBC Holdings plc HSBC reported a pre-tax profit of $19.89 billion for FY18, up from $17.2 billion in the year-ago period, but missing analysts’ estimates of $21.41 billion.