Pre-open movers
U.S. stock futures traded slightly lower in early pre-market trade on Wednesday after the Dow Jones surged around 240 points in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT), Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) and Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO).
Data on retail sales for July will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while data on business inventories for June will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman is set to speak at 9:30 a.m. ET. The Federal Open Market Committee will issue minutes of its latest meeting at 2:00 p.m. ET.
Check out this: Target, Lowe's And 3 Stocks To Watch Heading Into Wednesday
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 45 points to 34,073.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 9.50 points to 4,298.25. Futures for the Nasdaq index fell 52 points to 13,606.25.
Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.5% to trade at $91.88 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 0.4% to trade at $86.23 a barrel. Stocks of crude oil in the US fell by 0.448 million barrels in the week ended August 12th, 2022, the API said. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.
The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 94,869,930 with around 1,063,080 deaths. India reported a total of at least 44,286,250 confirmed cases, while France confirmed over 34,240,330 cases.
A Peek Into Global Markets
European markets were mostly flat today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.1%, London’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.1% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.2%. The French CAC 40 Index fell 0.1%, while German DAX fell 0.2%.
The annual inflation rate in the UK accelerated to 10.1% in July from 9.4% in the earlier period, while core producer prices in the UK rose by 14.6% year-over-year in July following a revised 14.9% increase in the previous month.
Asian markets traded higher today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.23%, China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.45%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.46%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.3%, while India’s S&P BSE SENSEX gained 0.7%.
Australia's wage price index rose by 2.6% year-over-year in Q2, while Westpac-Melbourne Institute Leading Economic Index fell by 0.2% year-over-year in July. Japan posted a trade deficit of JPY 1,436.8 billion in July versus a year-ago surplus of JPY 434.5 billion.
Broker Recommendation
Credit Suisse upgraded Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) from Neutral to Outperform and announced a $201 price target.
Apple shares rose 0.1% to $173.07 in pre-market trading.
Check out this: Walmart, Gap, Nordstrom And Some Other Big Stocks Recording Gains On Tuesday
Breaking News
- Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) reported better-than-expected results for its third quarter and raised its FY22 guidance.
- Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) miner Riot Blockchain (NASDAQ:RIOT) recorded a $99.8 million impairment loss on its BTC holdings.
- AerSale Corporation (NASDAQ:ASLE) reported a secondary offering of 4.25 million shares of common stock.
- Apple Inc's (NASDAQ:AAPL) Chinese suppliers Luxshare Precision Industry and Foxconn have started test production of Apple Watches in Vietnam, according to Nikkei Asia.
