A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Fall Ahead Of Earnings

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL). Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) and and International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) will release earnings after the closing bell. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 79 points to 29,200 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded fell 12.65 points to 3,312.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 43.25 points to 9,131.25.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 1.5% to trade at $64.24 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 1% to trade at $57.95 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.8%, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.7% and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.4%. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 1.2%, while French CAC 40 Index slipped 1.1%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.91%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 2.81%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.41% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.49%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at KeyBanc upgraded L Brands, Inc. (NYSE: LB) from Sector Weight to Overweight and announced a $25 price target.

L Brands shares rose 2.2% to $20.60 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Ares Management Corporation (NYSE: ARES) announced an agreement to acquire majority interest in SSG Capital Holdings Limited.
• Axonics Modulation Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AXNX) reported the FDA approval of enhanced neurostimulator programmer.
• F.N.B. Corporation (NYSE: FNB) reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.
• UBS Group AG (NYSE: UBS) reported a 129% increase in its net profit for the fourth quarter, but lowered its mid-term profitability guidance.