A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Flat Ahead Of Economic Data, Fed Speakers

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mostly flat in early pre-market trade. The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for November for November and data on wholesale inventories for September will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly is set to speak in San Francisco, CA at 11:45 a.m. ET, while New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams will speak in New York at 8:00 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Member of the Board of Governors Lael Brainard is set to speak in San Francisco, CA at 8:35 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 2 points to 27,669 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded fell 0.65 points to 3,085.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 5.75 points to 8,224.75.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures fell 1.9% to trade at $61.14 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 1.9% to trade at $56.09 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is schedule for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index dropping 0.2%, STOXX Europe 600 Index falling 0.3% and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.1%. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.2%, while French CAC 40 Index fell 0.1%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.11%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.57%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.01% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.81%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at JP Morgan downgraded Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) from Neutral to Underweight and lowered the price target from $68 to $60.

Albemarle shares fell 1.1% to $70.60 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Booking Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: BKNG) reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its third quarter.
• Yelp Inc (NYSE: YELP) reported downbeat earnings for its third quarter.
• Walt Disney Co (NYSE: DIS) reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter. In a CNBC interview immediately following the closing bell, Chairman and CEO Bob Iger said The Mouse has struck a distribution deal for its Disney+ streaming service with Amazon.com. The service will be carried by Amazon's Fire TV.
• Monster Beverage Corp (NASDAQ: MNST) reported upbeat earnings for its third quarter and announced a $500 million buyback program.