A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Edge Lower Following Monday's Rally; Crude Oil Drops 1%

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade after the Dow Jones climbed more than 600 points in the previous session. The House of Representatives, during the weekend, voted to approve President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package. Investors are awaiting earnings reports from Target Corporation TGT, AutoZone, Inc. AZO, Abercrombie & Fitch Co. ANF and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co HPE.

Data on motor vehicle sales for February will be released today. Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard is set to speak at 1:00 p.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly will speak at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 63 points to 31,446.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 13 points at 3,885.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 48.50 points to 13,231.25.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 28,664,450 with around 514,650 deaths. India reported a total of at least 11,124,520 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 10,587,000 cases.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 1.1% to trade at $63.02 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 1% to trade at $60.04 a barrel. The API’s report on crude oil stocks will be released later during the day.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.6% and STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 0.1%. The French CAC 40 Index fell 0.2%, German DAX 30 slipped 0.2% while London's FTSE 100 fell 0.2%. UK’s annual house price growth increased to 6.9% in February from 6.4% in January. Retail sales in Germany fell 4.5% in January, while unemployment rate came in unchanged at 4.6% for January.

Asian markets traded mostly lower today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.86%, China’s Shanghai Composite dropped 1.2% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.2%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.4%, while India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.6%. The Reserve Bank of Australia held its cash rate unchanged at 0.1%. Australia’s current account surplus widened to AUD 14.52 billion during the fourth quarter versus revised AUD 10.71 billion in the earlier period. Japanese unemployment rate came in unchanged at 2.9% for January.

Broker Recommendation

KeyBanc upgraded Akamai Technologies, Inc. AKAM from Sector Weight to Overweight and announced a $119 price target..

Akamai Technologies shares rose 1.1% to $97.00 in pre-market trading.

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Breaking News

• Nio Inc – ADR NIO reported a wider-than-expected loss for its fourth quarter, but issued strong revenue guidance for the first quarter. The EV maker also announced a month-over-month drop in deliveries for February.
• XPeng Inc. XPEV confirmed media reports regarding new low-priced versions of its vehicle line-up, armed with lithium phosphate battery. Separately, the company reported a sharp month-over-month decline in deliveries.
• Zoom Video Communications Inc ZM reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter and issued strong earnings guidance.
• Square Inc. SQ has officially commenced banking operations, nearly a year after receiving conditional approval to operate a bank.

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