Benzinga | Aug 27, 2020 06:06AM EDT

A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Down; All Eyes On Fed's Powell

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade, ahead of the much-awaited speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to the Jackson Hole central bankers conference. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq surged to another all-time highs in the previous session.

Investors are awaiting earnings from Dollar General Corp. (NYSE:DG), HP Inc (NYSE:HPQ), Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL) and Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR). Data on initial jobless claims for the latest week and Gross Domestic Product for the second quarter will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President Esther George is set to speak at 9:00 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin will speak at 12:30 p.m. ET. The pending home sales index for July is scheduled for release at 10:00 a.m. ET, while the Kansas City Fed's manufacturing index for August will be released at 11:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 97 points to 28,215 while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures traded slipped 8 points to 3,472.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 20.25 points to 11,972.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 5,822,920 with around 179,730 deaths. Brazil confirmed over 3,717,150 cases, while India reported a total of at least 3,310,230 confirmed cases.

Oil prices traded mixed as Brent crude futures rose 0.1% to trade at $46.19 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 0.2% to trade at $43.31 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.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.6% and STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.3%. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.3%, while French CAC 40 Index declined 0.4% and German DAX 30 fell 0.1%.

In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei fell 0.35%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.83% China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.61% and India's BSE Sensex rose 0.3%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at KeyBanc downgraded The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (NYSE:GBX) from Overweight to Sector Weight.

NIO shares rose 2% to close at $27.65 on Wednesday.

Breaking News

* Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) disclosed that the United States FDA has granted emergency use authorization to its 15-minute COVID-19 test. The BinaxNOW COVID-19 test has been priced at $5.

* NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its second quarter on Wednesday.

* Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng Inc. has significantly increased the target for its United Statesinitial public offering, Reuters reported Wednesday.

* Box Inc (NYSE:BOX) reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter and issued strong guidance for Q3 and FY21.