Benzinga | Dec 11, 2020 05:56AM EST

A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Down; Pfizer Covid-19 Vaccine Gets FDA Panel's Nod

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade following a delay in the Covid-19 relief package. Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) received the green light on its Covid-19 vaccine from an external panel of experts that advise the US FDA. Investors are awaiting earnings from Johnson Outdoors Inc. (NASDAQ:JOUT) and Construction Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROAD).

The Producer Price Index for November is scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for December will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Randal Quarles is set to speak at 12:40 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 160 points to 29,850.00 while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures traded fell 24 points to 3,644.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 80 points to 12,322.00.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 15,616,380 with around 292,170 deaths. India reported a total of at least 9,796,760 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 6,781,790 cases.

Oil prices traded slightly lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.2% to trade at $50.17 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 0.1% to trade at $46.75 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is scheduled for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 2.2% and STOXX Europe 600 Index declined 1.1%. The French CAC 40 Index declined 1.2%, while German DAX 30 declined 1.2% and London's FTSE 100 fell 1%. Spain's consumer prices fell 0.8% year-over-year in November, while consumer prices in Germany declined 0.3% year-on-year. The European Central Bank kept the interest rates unchanged at 0%.

Asian markets traded mostly lower today. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.39%, China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.77%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.36% and India's BSE Sensex fell 0.1%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 traded lower by 0.6%. Car sales in China climbed for the eight straight month, rising 12.6% year-over-year to 2.77 million in November.



Broker Recommendation

Analysts at KeyBanc initiated coverage on NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) with an Overweight rating and announced a price target of $174.

Nike shares fell 0.9% to close at $137.58 on Thursday.



Breaking News

* Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter. Its comparable store sales climbed 15.4% year over year, while e-commerce sales jumped 86.4% during the quarter.

* Sanofi SA (NASDAQ:SNY) and GlaxoSmithKline plc (NYSE:GSK) on Friday reported a delay in their COVID-19 vaccine program as interim results from Phase 1 and 2 trials indicate a low immune response in older adults.

* Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS), during its Investor Day 2020, said streaming platform Disney+ hit 86.8 million subscribers. The streaming platform also announced plans to add something new every week with dozens of branded series heading to the streaming platform.

* Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO) reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter. The company also named Charlie Kawwas as new COO and Kirsten Spears as CFO.