Benzinga | Apr 27, 2021 06:05AM EDT

A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Edge Lower Ahead Of Earnings, Fed Meeting

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded slightly lower in early pre-market trade after the Nasdaq index climbed more than 100 points in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), 3M Co (NYSE:MMM), Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Visa Inc (NYSE:V) and Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX).

The Federal Open Market Committee will begin its two-day policy meeting today. The S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller home price index and the FHFA house price index for February will be released at 9:00 a.m. ET. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index and the Richmond Fed manufacturing index for April will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 41 points to 33,836.00 while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 1.50 points at 4,178.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 3 points to 14,031.00.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 32,125,090 with around 572,670 deaths. India reported a total of at least 17,636,180 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 14,369,420 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.8% to trade at $65.57 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.9% to trade at $62.44 a barrel. The API's report on crude stocks will be released later in the day.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly lower today. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.3% and STOXX Europe 600 Index slipped 0.1%. The French CAC 40 Index fell 0.1%, German DAX 30 dropped 0.2% while London's FTSE 100 fell 0.1%. Italy's manufacturing confidence index climbed to 105.4 in April from a revised reading of 101.9 in the previous month, while consumer confidence index surged to 102.3 from 100.9.

Asian markets traded mixed today. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.46%, China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.04% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.04%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.2%, while India's BSE Sensex rose 1.1%. The Bank of Japan maintained its key short-term interest rate at -0.1%. Profits earned by Chinese industrial firms increased by 137.3% from year ago to CNY 1.825 trillion during January-March 2021.

Broker Recommendation

Needham initiated coverage on Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER) with a Buy rating and announced a price target of $77.

Uber shares rose 0.9% to $58.10 in pre-market trading.

Check out other major ratings here



Breaking News

* Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) reported better-than-expected earnings and sales for its first quarter. Production was 180,338 vehicles in the first quarter, up 76% year-over-year, while deliveries climbed 109% year-over-year to 184,877.

* United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) reported upbeat results for its first quarter.

* LYFT Inc (NASDAQ:LYFT) disclosed that Woven Planet, a subsidiary of Toyota, will acquire its self-driving car division.

* Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSII) reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter and issued strong Q2 sales guidance.

Check out other breaking news here