5 things to know before the stock market opens Thursday

U.S stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade after the Dow Jones fell 450 points in the previous session. The December Chicago Fed National Activity Index is scheduled to be released at 8: 30 a.m. The investors are waiting for Halliburton Company NYSE: HAL International Business Machines Corporation NYSE: IBM and Steel Dynamics, Inc. The Composite Purchasing Managers' Index for January will be released at 9: 45 a.m. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 148 points to 34,009. The Standard Poor's 500 index futures fell 24.25 points to 4,365, while the futures of the 500 index fell 24.25 points to 00. The futures for the Nasdaq index dropped 110 points to 14,316. The U.S. has the highest number of COVID 19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 71,925, 930 with around 889,190 deaths. India reported an total of 39,543, 320 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 24,044, 430 cases.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.2% to $87.70 per barrel, while the US WTI crude futures fell 0.4% to trade at $87.70 a barrel. The US crude oil inventories surged by 500,000 barrels last week, the EIA said Thursday. The total number of active U.S. oil rigs fell by 1 to 491 rigs this week, Baker Hughes Inc reported.

European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 2.3%, while Spain's IBEX 35 Index fell 2.1% and London's FTSE 100 fell 1.4%. The French CAC 40 Index fell 2%, while the German DAX fell 1.9%. The PMI of the IHS Markit Eurozone fell to 51.2 in January from 53.1 in the previous month, while manufacturing PMI rose to 59 from 58. The manufacturing PMI of IHS Markit France fell to 55.5 in January from 55.6 in December, while services PMI fell to 53.1 in January. The PMI of the IHS Markit Germany rose to 60.5 in January, while the PMI rose to 52.2. The PMI of IHS Markit CIPS UK Services fell to 53.3 in January from 53.6 a month ago, while manufacturing PMI fell to 56.9 from 57.9.

Asian markets traded mostly lower today. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.24%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.24%, while China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.04%. Australia's S&P ASX 200 fell 0.5% and India's BSE Sensex fell 2.6%. The composite PMI of the Au Jibun Bank Japan fell to 48.8 in January from a final reading of 52.5 a month ago, while Australian composite PMI fell to 45.3 in January from 54.9 in December.

Jefferies downgraded Netflix, Inc. NASDAQ: NFLX from Buy to Hold and lowered the price target from $737 to $415.

Check out other major ratings here and see if you have a good rating.

The FDA approved Gilead Sciences Inc's NASDAQ: GILD Veklury remdesivir for non-hospitalized adult and adolescent patients at high risk of progression to severe COVID- 19.

Health Canada has approved Ipsen SA's OTC: IPSEY Sohonos palovarotene capsules in adults and children aged eight years above for fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva FOP The FDA has approved AbbVie Inc's NYSE: ABBV Skyrizi risankizumab-rzaa for active psoriatic arthritis PsA a systemic inflammatory disease that affects skin and joints.

The FDA has issued a Complete Response Letter CRL to Pfizer Inc NYSE: PFE and OPKO Health Inc's NASDAQ: OPK somatrogon.