A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Edge Lower Ahead Of Durable-Goods Orders, Home Sales Data

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded slightly lower in early pre-market trade. Data on durable goods orders for January will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the pending home sales index for January is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Dallas Fed manufacturing index for February will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET. Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan is set to speak in Norman, Okla. at 11:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 4 points to 20,783.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 0.25 points to 2,364.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 5.50 points to 5,337.75.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures gained 0.82 percent to trade at $56.45 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.69 percent to trade at $54.36 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.08 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.27 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.12 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.12 percent, while French CAC 40 Index fell 0.09 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.91 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.17 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.76 percent and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.28 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Goldman Sachs downgraded Tesla Inc TSLA from Neutral to Sell and lowered the price target from $190.00 to $185.00.

Tesla shares fell 2.41 percent to $250.80 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Sothebys BID reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Monday.



• Berkshire Hathaway Inc. BRK BRK reported a rise in its net earnings per share for the fourth quarter. Net earnings gained to $6.29 billion, or $3,823 per Class A share, versus $5.48 billion, or $3,333 per share, in the year-ago period.



• Horizon Pharma PLC HZNP reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter on Monday.



• AES Corp AES posted weaker-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter on Monday.