Benzinga | Jan 27, 2021 06:08AM EST

A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Mixed; Microsoft Beats Q2 Estimates

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mixed in early pre-market trade ahead of earnings from big-tech companies and interest rate decision from the Federal Reserve. Investors are awaiting earnings reports from Boeing Co (NYSE:BA), Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), and AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T).

Data on durable goods orders for December will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the State Street Investor Confidence Index for January is scheduled for release at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Federal Reserve will announce its latest policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET, while the Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 91 points to 30,751.00 while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures traded slipped 5.75 points to 3,836.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index climbed 53.25 points to 13,538.75.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 25,439,570 with around 425,210 deaths. India reported a total of at least 10,689,520 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 8,933,350 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.8% to trade at $56.10 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.9% to trade at $53.06 a barrel. U.S. crude inventories dropped by 5.27 million barrels last week, according to the American Petroleum Institute. The Energy Information Administration's weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mixed today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.1% and STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 0.1%. The French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.3%, German DAX 30 dropped 0.4% while London's FTSE 100 fell 0.1%. Consumer confidence in France slipped to 92 in January versus 95 in December, while Germany's consumer climate indicator fell to an eight-month low reading of -15.6 for February.

Asian markets traded mixed today. Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.31%, China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.11% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dipped 0.32%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.7%, while India's BSE Sensex dipped 2%. Japan's index of leading economic indicators in Japan rose to 96.4 in November, while index of coincident economic indicators was revised lower to 89.0 during November. Profits earned by Chinese industrial firms rose 4.1% year-over-year to CNY 6.45 trillion for 2020. Australia's annual inflation rate rose to 0.9% in Q4, while business confidence index dipped to 4 in December.

Broker Recommendation

Baird downgraded Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ:BBBY) from Outperform to Neutral and raised the price target from $30 to $37.

Bed Bath & Beyond shares rose 20.7% to $44.51 in pre-market trading.

Check out other major ratings here



Breaking News

* Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) reported stronger-than-expected results for its second quarter on Tuesday.

* TE Connectivity Ltd (NYSE:TEL) posted upbeat results for its first quarter.

* Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) reported weaker-than-expected sales for its first quarter and also issued weak earnings guidance for the current quarter. The company's global comparable store sales also declined 5%.

* Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter and issued strong sales forecast for the first quarter.

Check out other breaking news here