A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Edge Lower; Citigroup Earnings In Focus

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded slightly lower in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from Citigroup Inc C 1.44%. Data on initial jobless claims for the latest week and the Producer Price Index for September will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The U.S. Treasury budget report for September will be released at 2:00 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard and Jerome Powell will speak in Washington at 10:30 a.m. ET. Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic is set to speak in Hong Kong at 9:15 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 18 points to 22,797.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 3.50 points to 2,549.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index dropped 0.75 points to 6,081.50.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 1.09 percent to trade at $56.32 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures dropped 1.46 percent to trade at $50.55 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET, while the EIA’s weekly report on petroleum inventories is schedule for release at 11:00 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.01 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index dropping 0.06 percent and German DAX 30 index slipping 0.06 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.37 percent, while French CAC 40 Index slipped 0.25 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.35 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.24 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.06 percent and India’s BSE Sensex climbed 1.09 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Credit Suisse downgraded Williams-Sonoma, Inc. WSM 3.05% from Neutral to Underperform.Williams-Sonoma shares fell 1.38 percent to close at $50.70 on Wednesday.

Breaking news

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM 0.96% posted stronger-than-expected earnings for its third quarter.
• Juniper Networks, Inc. JNPR 5.44% cut its guidance for the third quarter. The company lowered sales outlook from $1.29-$1.35 billion to $1.25-$1.26 billion. Adjusted EPS guidance was reduced from $0.55-$0.61 to $0.54-$0.56.
• Blackhawk Network Holdings Inc HAWK 16.74% reported better-than-expected results for its third quarter, but issued a disappointing forecast for the year.
• J.Jill Inc JILL 51.06% issued a weak earnings outlook for the third quarter. The company expects adjusted earnings $0.08-$0.10 per share versus the sell-side consensus estimate of $0.19.