US pre-open: Stocks seen touch lower ahead of key data, earnings

US futures pointed to a marginally weaker open on Wall Street ahead of some key data and earnings releases.

CMC Markets’ Jasper Lawler said: “US stocks look set for a lower open amid a slide in European and Asian markets ahead of personal income and spending data and earnings from Pfizer, Procter & Gamble, CVS, Aetna and AIG.”

At 1050 BST, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq futures were down 0.1%, while S&P 500 futures were off 0.2%.

At the same time, oil prices pushed higher, with West Texas Intermediate up 1% at $40.44 a barrel and Brent crude up 1.1% at $42.59.

Meanwhile, European indices were in the red, with banks stocks under the cosh following a warning from Commerzbank.

On the US corporate front, Tenet Healthcare shares were sharply lower in pre-market trade after the hospital operator’s quarterly earnings released late on Monday fell short of analysts’ expectations.

CVS Health Corp, Molson Coors Brewing and Pfizer were among the big names slated to report earnings ahead of the opening bell.

In terms of data, investors will be looking to the release of US personal income and spending and the PCE deflator at 1330 BST.

Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, said: “While many investors may already be eyeing up Friday’s U.S. jobs data, today’s income, spending and inflation figures should not be overlooked and will also be very influential when the Fed is deciding whether or not to raise interest rates at the coming meetings.

“The core personal consumption expenditure price index is the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation and so this is what they will be looking to for evidence that price pressures are finally starting to appear. As it turns out, we’re not expecting to see much evidence of that today, with the index seen rising only 0.1% from last month.”