Benzinga | Oct 6, 2020 06:00AM EDT

A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Edge Lower Ahead Of Fed Speakers; President Trump Leaves Hospital

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded slightly lower in early pre-market trade following a sharp rally in the previous session on hopes of further stimulus and President Donald Trump returning to the White House.

Investors are awaiting earnings reports from Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) and Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI). International trade report for August is scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the Labor Department's JOLTS report for August is scheduled for release at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is set to speak at 10:40 a.m. ET, while Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker will speak at 12:00 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic is set to speak at 2:00 p.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan will speak at 6:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 16 points to 27,979 while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures traded slipped 7.75 points to 3,385.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 42 points to 11,427.25.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 7,458,540 with around 210,190 deaths. India reported a total of at least 6,685,080 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 4,927,230 cases.

Oil prices traded slightly higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.1% to trade at $41.34 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.1% to trade at $39.24 a barrel. The API's report on US crude inventories will be released later in the day.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mixed today following the release of economic reports. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.4% and STOXX Europe 600 Index slipped 0.2%. The French CAC 40 Index rose 0.1%, while German DAX 30 gained 0.1% and London's FTSE 100 fell 0.4%. German IHS Markit construction PMI declined to 45.5 in September versus a reading of 48 in August, while French construction PMI increased to 47.3 from prior month's reading of 46.

Asian markets traded higher today. Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.52%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.79% and India's BSE Sensex rose 0.9%. Japanese services PMI gained to 46.9 in September versus a reading of 45.0 in August. The IHS Markit India services PMI surged to 49.8 in September compared to 41.8 in the earlier month.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Raymond James downgraded Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) from Market Perform to Underperform.

Public Storage shares rose 0.7% to close at $232.16 on Monday

Breaking News

* Alteryx Inc (NYSE:AYX) raised its sales guidance for the third quarter and announced Mark Anderson as new CEO.

* Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) was ordered to pay $1.9 billion to Virginia-based Centripetal Networks Inc by a U.S. judge in the cybersecurity patent infringement trial on Monday, Bloomberg reported.

* American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:AMSC) announced the acquisition of Northeast Power Systems, Inc. The company raised its Q2 sales guidance and also issued strong sales forecast for the third quarter.

* Emerald Holding Inc (NYSE:EEX) disclosed a $20 million share buyback program.