US Stock Futures Fall as Oil's Relentless Slide Continues

February 2, 2016

New York (Feb 2)  Stock futures set up for a decline on Tuesday as crude oil continued its relentless slide following a massive selloff a day earlier.

S&P 500 futures were down 0.66%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slid 0.62%, and Nasdaq futures tumbled 0.66%.

Crude oil fell again as worries over oversupply and weaker demand persisted, while hopes for a production cut deal between Russia and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries -- which spiked last week -- began to fade. West Texas Intermediate crude was down 3.4% to $30.46 a barrel. Prices slumped 6% a day earlier as weaker data from China exacerbated worries over demand for crude oil.

Earnings from BP (BP - Get Report) weren't helping matters after the energy giant reported its worst annual loss in 20 years. Fourth-quarter earnings plunged 91% because of sharp declines in oil prices. The company also announced 3,000 job cuts globally by the end of 2017. Shares were down 9% in premarket trading.

Alphabet (GOOGL - Get Report) shares jumped more than 6% after reporting profit at its core Internet businesses, which include search and YouTube, rose 13.5% to $75.54 billion in 2015. Overall revenue in the fourth quarter increased 18%, while adjusted earnings of $8.67 a share beat estimates by 58 cents.

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Mattel (MAT - Get Report) added 6% in premarket trading after the Barbie dollmaker generated a quarterly sales increase, breaking an eight-quarter streak of declining revenue. Adjusted earnings of 67 cents a share came in 6 cents above forecasts, while revenue inched 0.5% higher.

Source:  TheStreet

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