A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Mixed Ahead Of Earnings

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mixed in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from several companies. Data on housing starts for September will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the Federal Reserve will release its latest Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET. San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams is set to speak in Newark, NJ at 8:45 a.m. ET, while Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Rob Kaplan will speak in Fort Worth at 1:30 p.m. ET. New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley is set to speak in New York at 7:45 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 10 points to 18,074.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures gained 0.50 points to 2,132.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index slipped 4 points to 4,823.00.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures gained 1.28 percent to trade at $52.34 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures also rose 1.28 percent to trade at $51.27 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 mostly lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.27 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.06 percent and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.13 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.18 percent, while French CAC 40 Index slipped 0.01 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.21 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.38 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.03 percent and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.24 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at FBR Capital downgraded Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE: WFC) from Outperform to Market Perform.

Wells Fargo shares rose 0.33 percent to $45.10 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is the sixth big bank to announce stronger than expected results for the third quarter. This is the fourth straight quarter of an EPS beat. The company's profit jumped from $1.0 billion to $1.6 billion while EPS climbed from $0.48 to $0.81 and came in above the Street estimates of $0.63 a share. To read the full news, click here.
• Reynolds American, Inc. (NYSE: RAI) reported weaker-than-expected earnings for the third quarter.
• Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter, but issued a weak revenue forecast for the current quarter. To read the full news, click here.
• Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) reported upbeat earnings for the third quarter on Tuesday. To read the full news, click here.