A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Down; UK Approves Pfizer's Covid-19 Vaccine

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq index surged to record highs in the previous session. Pfizer Inc PFE and its German partner BioNTech SE BNTX said Wednesday they have received regulatory approval in the United Kingdom for their COVID-19 vaccine. Investors are awaiting earnings from PVH Corp PVH, Patterson Companies, Inc. PDCO and Synopsys, Inc. SNPS.

The ADP national employment report for November will be released at 8:15 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will testify before the Congress at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Randal Quarles is set to speak at 9:00 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Patrick Harker will speak at 10:00 a.m. ET. New York Fed President John Williams will speak at 1:00 p.m. ET, while the Federal Open Market Committee will release its latest Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 86 points to 29,718.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded fell 5.25 points to 3,655.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 9.75 points to 12,442.50.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 13,725,910 with around 270,660 deaths. India reported a total of at least 9,499,410 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 6,386,780 cases.

Oil prices traded flat as Brent crude futures rose 0.1% to trade at $47.44 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 0.8% to trade at $44.51 a barrel. 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 fell 0.1% and STOXX Europe 600 Index declined 0.3%. The French CAC 40 Index rose 0.9%, while German DAX 30 declined 0.5% and London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.3%. Retail sales in Germany climbed 2.6% in October versus a revised 1.9% decline in September.

Asian markets traded mostly lower today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.05%, China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.07%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.13% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.7%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 traded higher by 0.1%. The Consumer Confidence Index in Japan rose to 33.7 in November, while the Australian GDP increased 3.3% in the third quarter after contracting by 7% in the earlier period.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Piper Sandler downgraded Slack Technologies, Inc. WORK from Overweight to Neutral and raised the price target from $36 to $45.

Slack shares fell 1.4% to $43.21 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co HPE reported upbeat results for its third quarter and issued strong guidance for the current quarter. The company also announced plans to relocate its corporate headquarters from Silicon Valley to Houston, Texas..
• Li Auto Inc LI said it delivered 4,646 electric vehicles in November, which translates to a near 26% gain over October and 32.6% gain over September deliveries..
• salesforce.com, inc. CRM reported better-than-exp results for its third quarter and raised its FY21 sales forecast. The company also confirmed plans to acquire Slack Technologies in a $27.7 billion deal.
• Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA is nearing a deal to sell its entire stake in Indian grocer BigBasket to the Tata Group, according to Indian daily The Mint.