U.S. stock futures - 5 Things You Must Know

Global Stock Markets

U.S. stock futures pointed to sharp losses for Wall Street on Tuesday, Feb. 20, as investors braced for nearly $260 billion in new debt auctions that could push bond yields higher and reignite a new round of volatility in global markets.

Contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 189 points, while those tied to the S&P 500 fell 18.25 points.

The big story this week could be the market's reaction to $258 billion in new debt sales from the U.S. Treasury, which kicks off Tuesday with an auction of $151 billion in short-term Treasury bills, and their impact on an already bearish bond market. Benchmark 10-year note yields rose 3 basis points early Tuesday to 2.908%.

Home Depot Inc.  posted fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.69 cents a share, 8 cents above estimates. Revenue in the quarter was $23.88 billion, up from $22.21 billion a year earlier and ahead of forecasts of $23.66 billion. The home-improvement retailer said it expects sales growth of 6.5% in fiscal 2018. The stock rose slightly in premarket trading.

Walmart Inc. earned $1.33 a share on an adjusted basis in the fourth quarter, below analysts forecasts of $1.37. Revenue was $136.27 billion, higher than estimates. U.S. same-store sales in the quarter rose 2.6%.The world's largest retailer said it expects earnings per share in 2019 of $4.75 to $5. Shares of Walmart tumbled 3.9% in premarket trading.

Earnings are also expected Tuesday from Transocean Ltd. (RIG) , NiSource Inc. (NI) , Noble Energy Inc. (NBL) , Medtronic PLC (MDT) , LendingClub Corp. (LC) , Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) , Duke Energy Corp. (DUK) and Domino's Pizza Inc. (DPZ) .

The economic calendar in the U.S. on Tuesday is light.
The Dow and the S&P 500 finished higher on Friday, Feb. 16, but were dented by the news that a federal grand jury had indicted 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities accused of interfering with U.S. elections.

 

The Dow gained 19 points, or 0.08%, to close at 25,219. The S&P 500 gained 0.04% on Friday but the Nasdaq declined 0.23%. For the week the Dow jumped 4.25%, the S&P 500 gained 4.30% and the Nasdaq climbed 5.31%. 

Albertsons Cos. plans to buy the rest of Rite Aid Corp. (RAD)  that isn't being sold to Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. , The Wall Street Journal reported.

Rite Aid, the third-largest U.S. drugstore chain, and Albertsons have a combined value of around $24 billion, including debt. Rite Aid has a market value of about $2.3 billion and is in the process of selling abour 2,000 of its stores to Walgreens. The transaction would create a company with revenue of $83 billion and allow Albertsons to go public after more than a decade of ownership by private-equity giant Cerberus Capital Management LP, the Journal said. Rite Aid shares jumped 29% in premarket trading.

Shares of HSBC PLC  (HSBC)  tumbled more than 4% on Tuesday in London after Europe's biggest bank missed analysts' forecasts for its full-year earnings and said it plans to raise as much as $7 billion in new capital before it will consider any share buybacks.

The London-based bank, which is gradually shifting its focus to markets in Asia under the stewardship of new CEO John Flint, said full-year profit more than doubled to $17.2 billion, but the figure was compared with 2016 which included major restructuring costs. Analysts expected the bank to earn $19.2 billion.

The bank also booked a $1.3 billion charge related to the new U.S. tax law and $188 billion in bad-loan impairments linked to two corporate clients in Europe that are widely believed to be the scandal hit furniture retailer Steinhoff International Holdings NV and Britain's bankrupt outsourcer Carillion PLC.