US Stock Futures Down Ahead Of Fed Minutes

Pre-open movers

US stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade, ahead of the release of the recent FOMC minutes. Data on existing home sales for July will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 43 points to 14,942.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 5.60 points to 1,645.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index dropped 11.50 points to 3,069.50.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index dropping 0.63%, London's FTSE 100 index dropping 0.73% and STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.33%. German DAX 30 index fell 0.28% and French CAC 40 Index tumbled 0.15%.

Asian markets ended mixed today. China's Shanghai Composite surged 0.02%, while Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.21%. Australia's ASX/S&P500 gained 0.42% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.69% and India's Sensex tumbled 1.86%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Goldman Sachs upgraded Garmin (NASDAQ: GRMN) from “sell” to “neutral.” The target price for Garmin has been raised from $34 to $39.

Garmin's shares closed at $38.45 yesterday.

Breaking news

• Lowe's Companies (NYSE: LOW) reported a 26% rise in its fiscal second quarter earnings and lifted its forecast for the year. To read the full news, click here.
• Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) reported a 24% drop in its fiscal third-quarter profit. Toll's quarterly profit fell to $46.6 million, or $0.26 per share, from $61.6 million, or $0.36 per share, in the year-ago quarter. To read the full news, click here.
• Staples (NASDAQ: SPLS) reported weaker-than-expected second-quarter earnings. Staples's quarterly profit dropped to $102.5 million, or $0.16 per share, from $120.4 million, or $0.18 per share, in the year-earlier period. To read the full news, click here.
• American Realty Capital Properties (NASDAQ: ARCP) affirmed today its intention to repurchase up to $250 million of ARCP's outstanding common stock pursuant to its previously announced share repurchase program. To read the full news, click here.