US pre-open: Stocks seen flat as investors eye fresh catalysts

At 1113 BST, Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were all flat.

At the same time, oil prices retreated, with West Texas Intermediate down 1.3% at $42.23 a barrel and Brent crude 1% weaker at $44.54.

David Morrison, senior market strategist at SpreadCo, said: “It looks like another directionless open for the major US stock indices. Yesterday saw the S&P and Nasdaq hit fresh record intra-day highs only for the indices to pull back later in the day. Traders continue to keep a close eye on oil prices which have softened overnight. This follows the latest US crude inventory report from the API which showed an unexpected build in stockpiles for the third successive week. The Energy Information Administration releases its weekly update later this afternoon.

“Investors piled back into US equities at the end of last week following an unexpectedly strong non-farm payroll number. However, ahead of this it looked like the major indices had lost their upside momentum. Nevertheless, there’s still a hope that equities can continue to push higher as long as US economic data beats expectations while the Fed holds back from hiking rates despite hawkish rhetoric.”

In corporate news, Walt Disney was in the red in pre-market trade despite posting better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue late on Tuesday.

SolarCity Corp nudged a touch higher despite reported a bigger-than-expected loss for the second quarter.

Yelp surged pre-market as its second-quarter results late on Tuesday topped analysts’ expectations, but SunPower Corp tumbled after the solar panel maker downgraded its guidance and said it will cut 1,200 jobs.

Michael Kors and Ralph Lauren are slated to report before the opening bell.

On the macroeconomic front, job openings and labour turnover data is due at 1500 BST.