Benzinga | Sep 14, 2021 06:07AM EDT

A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Mostly Flat Ahead Of Consumer Price Index

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mostly flat in early pre-market trade after the Dow Jones jumped more than 250 points in the previous week. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Core & Main, Inc. (NYSE:CNM), and Skillsoft Corp. (NYSE:SKIL)

The NFIB small business optimism index for August is scheduled for release at 6:00 a.m. ET, while the Consumer Price Index for August will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Analysts expect a 0.4% overall rise in August prices, with a 0.3% growth for the core prices.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 16 points to 34,886.00 while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 3.75 points to 4,472.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 1.25 points to 15,435.50.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 41,221,270 with around 662,130 deaths. India reported a total of at least 33,289,570 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 21,006,420 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.9% to trade at $74.17 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.8% to trade at $71.03 a barrel. The API's report on crude oil stocks will be released later during the day.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mixed today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.1% and STOXX Europe 600 Index slipped 0.1%. The French CAC 40 Index fell 0.6%, London's FTSE 100 fell 0.2% while German DAX 30 gained 0.1%. Spanish consumer prices increased 3.3% year-over-year r in August following a 2.9% increase in the previous month. The UK unemployment rate dropped to 4.6% in the three months to July.

Asian markets traded mostly higher today. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.73%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.21%, while China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.42%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.2% and India's BSE Sensex gained 0.2%. Annual wholesale price inflation rate in India rose to 11.39% in August from 11.16% in the prior month. Industrial production in Japan fell 1.5% in July. The NAB business confidence index in Australia increased to -5 in August, while house price index rose by 6.7% on quarter in the second quarter.

Broker Recommendation

Raymond James maintained Leap Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPTX) with an Outperform and raised the price target from $3 to $4.

Leap Therapeutics shares fell 2.3% to $1.73 in pre-market trading.

Check out other major ratings here



Breaking News * Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter, while sales missed estimates. The company said it expects total revenue to grow between 3% and 5% for the second quarter.

* South Korea's antitrust regulator has slapped Alphabet Inc's (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google a fine of $177 million, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday.

* Intuit Inc (NASDAQ:INTU) agreed to buy privately-held email marketing firm Mailchimp for $12 billion in cash and stock.

* Herbalife Nutrition (NYSE:HLF) revised its guidance for the third quarter and full year 2021. The company said it sees Q3 adjusted earnings of $1.00 to $1.20 per share. Herbalife updated its full year adjusted earnings guidance to a range of $4.55 to $4.95 per share, while adjusted EBITDA is being lowered to a range of $860 million to $910 million.

Check out other breaking news here