A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Edge Lower; Goldman Sachs Earnings In Focus

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded slightly lower in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS). The Producer Price Index for December and the Empire State manufacturing index for January will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Atlanta Fed's Business Inflation Expectations survey report for January will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Patrick Harker is set to speak at 11:00 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan will speak at 12:00 p.m. ET. The Federal Open Market Committee will release its Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 13 points to 28,921 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded fell 0.9 points to 3,287.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 2.5 points to 9,060.00.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.2% to trade at $64.59 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.2% to trade at $58.35 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. 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 falling 0.4%, STOXX Europe 600 Index dropping 0.1% and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.1%. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.1%, while French CAC 40 Index dropped 0.1%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.45%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 0.39%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.54% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.19%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at DZ Bank upgraded QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) from Hold to Buy and announced a $104 price target.

Qualcomm shares rose 1% to $91.47 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter.
• The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC) reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.
• Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.
• BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK) reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter.